Visiting the Portland Rose Festival

Grand Floral Parade.

By Lonnie C.

In June 2023, I travelled with Wells Gray Tours to Washington and Oregon. For me, the highlight of the trip was the Portland Rose Festival.

It was created in 1907 as a non-profitcivic enterprise. Today, 117 years later, the International Festivals Association ranks it one of the top 10 festivals in the world.

During the behind-the-scenes tour of the floats barn, we chatted with some of the army of volunteers busy putting the finishing touches on their creations the day before the parade. All surfaces of each float must be covered in incredible quantities of fresh flowers, greenery, and 100+ other natural materials to create amazing life-like effects, e.g., tinted yellow and black cotton batting for a bee's body, popped popcorn to simulate the texture of a cauliflower, and coconut coir to give a moose or bear a fuzzy brown fur coat.

The tour of the International Rose Test Gardens in Washington Park was breathtaking. Every rose I saw seemed even more spectacular than the last.

The juried Portland Rose Society Spring Show at Lloyd Center is the largest and longest-running rose show in the U.S. The exquisite beauty and fragrances of more than 4,000 blooms was intoxicating!

Parade day at last! From our front row seats in the Coliseum, we enjoyed the pre-parade entertainment, followed by the wonderful Grand Floral Parade of elaborately decorated floats, marching bands, colourful dance troops, and equestrians.

To learn more or plan your own visit, see rosefestival.org