THE HISTORY OF THE PORTLAND ROSE FESTIVAL

The Portland Rose Festival’s official history dates back to 1907; however, its roots may be attributed to an event that took place more than 150 years ago. In 1837 the first rose bush to reach the Northwest was brought around Cape Horn and presented to Anna Marian Pittman on the day she married Jason Lee at Lee’s Mission near Champoeg. Years later, after the mission had been destroyed by fire, John Minto found the rose bush growing near the site of Lee’s cabin. He carefully dug it up and transplanted it to his land where it flourished. Like the legend of Johnny Appleseed, Minto began distributing rose bush cuttings throughout the countryside.

Portland’s climate was perfectly suited to growing roses, which led local rose enthusiasts to create the Portland Rose Society in 1888 to encourage amateurs to cultivate and exhibit roses. The organization remains today as the oldest such group in the United States. In 1889 the Rose Society held its first Rose Show in a tent. In 1904 the Rose Society began holding a fiesta in connection with the annual exhibit, and the city’s first floral parade was held on June 10, 1904. It included elaborately decorated vehicles — surreys, carry alls and a grand total of four automobiles.

It was not until 1907 that another floral parade was staged, accompanied by a two day festival to celebrate the rose — the Portland Rose Carnival and Fiesta. Civic leader E. W. Rowe is credited with the original idea of a rose festival. Portland Mayor Harry Lane is also remembered for expressing a need for a festival of roses on the heels of the successful Lewis & Clark Exhibition in 1905.

Following the 1907 festival, on June 27, 1907, a group of 10 businessmen formally organized the Portland Rose Festival into a non profit civic enterprise to plan and finance the annual event. To raise the $10,000 needed to start the organization, 1,000 shares of capital stock were sold at $10 per share. Carrie Lee Chamberlain, the governor’s daughter, reigned as Queen over the Festival’s inaugural year.

From 1908 to 1913 a king, Rex Oregonus, ruled over the festival. The identity of this king was kept secret, and he wore a huge beard to disguise himself until his identity was revealed at the festival’s annual ball. In 1914, a Rose Festival Queen, selected from among Portland’s socialites, was again chosen to rule. This practice continued until 1930. From 1924 to 1929, Rex Oregonus returned to rule along with the Queen of the mythical realm of Rosaria.

In these early years, the Rose Festival was highlighted by horse drawn floats in the floral parade, aquatic events in the nearby harbor and fireworks at night. Never before in America had a large community dedicated an annual festival to the beauty of a single rose. The theme for many of the early festivals was “For You a Rose in Portland Grows,” originated by Bertha Slater Smith.

Beginning in 1931, the Queen has been a Portland high school senior, selected from the Rose Festival Court. Today, the Rose Festival Court is comprised of 14 Portland area graduating high school seniors. One Court Member is chosen to be the Portland Rose Festival Queen. Since the Portland Rose Festival Association was legally incorporated in 1932, each Court Member has received a college scholarship from the Association. This year, the Portland Rose Festival Association will award each ambassador a $3,000 scholarship courtesy of Randall Realty Corp.

The electrical parade was a sparkling feature at the first festival in 1907. It was described as the most lavish spectacle of its kind on the continent. At the time, Portland had the world’s first long distance power transmission line, which linked Oregon City with Portland, and the city was among the first half dozen in the world to operate electrically-propelled trolleys. Twenty illuminated floats on rail flat cars were the main attraction running along this line at the first festival.

Today, a spectacular array of parades — the Grand Floral, Starlight and Junior Parades — remain the star attractions of the Portland Rose Festival. The Grand Floral Parade is the second largest all-floral parade in the country, draws an audience of half a million people along the parade route, and is syndicated to more than 20 million television households. The Grand Floral Parade is the highlight of each year’s Rose Festival celebration. It is the most popular family event in Oregon and the largest parade in the Pacific Northwest. Each year the parade showcases dozens of elaborate floats decorated exclusively with live or natural materials, the region’s finest high school marching bands, outstanding equestrian units, special guests and the newly-chosen Rose Festival Queen and Court.

In its entire history, the parade has only been canceled three times:
1. In 1918, due to World War I.
2. In 1926 there was no Festival at all due to the rebuilding of Multnomah Stadium where the parade was staged.
3. In 1942, due to World War II, the parade was canceled and other events had to be held indoors to avoid possible enemy attack. The Association was warned to avoid activities that drew large crowds. Even then, the parade was attracting more than 300,000 spectators to the streets of Portland.

Two other years the parade was disrupted by natural events. In 1948, it was moved to Portland’s eastside because of the Vanport flood. In 1980, the city streets had to be washed down and many spectators wore dust masks due to the presence of volcanic ash leftover from the eruption of nearby Mt. St. Helens.

The Merrykhana Parade, a zany evening affair which featured clowns, calliopes, band music and eccentric floats of all types, was a popular attraction for many years. But, because of crowd control problems, it was dropped in 1973. An event similar to the Merrykhana Parade was produced in 1976. It was called the Bicentennial Starlight Parade and came off without incident. The Portland Rose Festival Association and city officials agreed that a nighttime, fun parade should be returned to the Festival schedule and, as a result of the bicentennial year, the Starlight Parade continued and has grown every year since.

Junior Rose Festival events have been part of the celebration since the very beginning. In 1907, a children’s parade was held with 2,000 participants. In 1908, it was called the East Side Street Carnival of Masqueraders and Children’s Parade. In 1917, the first Junior Court was formed. Tradition has it that in 1918 the children of the east side conducted a junior festival in the imitation of the successful senior event. But it wasn’t until 1936 that it was invited to become an official part of the Portland Rose Festival. By 1939, more than 5,000 children were part of the festive processional, and today the Junior Parade is the largest in the world with more than 10,000 children participating.

After the 1995 Festival, the Rose Festival Board of Directors decided that a new program was needed to include more young people. The Board voted to eliminate the Junior Court, which had been a fulfilling tradition each year for eight young girls, and to develop a new program that would provide a wonderful experience for hundreds of young people in the years to come. The community involvement-based program called Rose Festival Kids debuted in 1996. Almost 500 children from elementary and middle schools throughout the city of Portland participated in the creation, development and staging of various fundraising or service programs that benefited their surrounding communities.

Navy and Coast Guard ships have been visiting the Rose Festival as far back as 1907 when the U.S.S. Charleston arrived as part of Rose Festival activities. It is not certain how large the fleet was in those early years or if the Fleet visitation was an annual event. Some memorable years for Fleet visits include 1925 when the Battleship Oregon docked here and 1934 when the U.S. Cruiser San Francisco attended. Today, the fleet of more than 20 ships arrives with a spectacular welcoming ceremony. Ships from the United States, Canada and occasionally Japan or other countries dock at the Westside Seawall of the Willamette River. Visitors are welcomed aboard to tour the ships downtown.

The Waterfront Village was established in 1958 as a Rose Festival event and was staged in downtown’s Park Blocks. Waterfront Village proved to be such an outstanding success that in 1960 it was moved to an expanded area at Holladay Park, adjacent to Lloyd Center. In 1970, Waterfront Village was moved to its present home at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the west bank of the Willamette River. This location provides a center of festive activity in the heart of the city. Waterfront Village features stage shows, band concerts, midway rides and concessions. The event now enjoys an 11-day run as part of the month-long Rose Festival. Waterfront Village is one of the major sources of revenue for the non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association to pay for other events.

High-speed racing action has long been a major part of the Rose Festival. Much has changed since 1909, when the first Rose Festival Auto Race included three classes of cars covering 102 miles on a 14.5-mile course. The top speed in those days was 62 mph. Since 1961, the various auto races have been a popular attraction.

In 1984, the Portland Rose Festival Association took a dramatic step by adding a major league sports event to the festivities and extended the festival from 10 to 17 days. The addition of the CART/PPG Indy Car World Series drew world-class race drivers and tens of thousands of spectators to the Portland International Raceway its first year. Stroh’s joined G.I. Joe’s to sponsor the first two years and in 1986, Budweiser took on the major sponsorship with Texaco/Havoline presents Budweiser/G.I. Joe’s 200 Indy Car Races. This event continues to grow in attendance and popularity throughout the region with drivers competing for more than $600,000 in prize money and points in the National CART championships. Today’s event is called the G.I. Joe’s 200.

The largest airshow in the state of Oregon got its start in 1988 and has become a part of the rich traditions associated with the Rose Festival. The Rose Festival Airshow features some of the best-known airshow acts in the world. In 2003 the Association decided to discontinue the Airshow.

The newest feature of the Rose Festival is the Portland Arts Festival, a three-day juried event with artists from throughout the United States. In 1998, its inaugural year, the Portland Arts Festival was a great success and was enjoyed by more than 60,000 people in downtown’s South Park Blocks. Music, theater, and hands-on art for kids and adults are just some of the Portland Art Festival’s features.

Many other events are included in the Rose Festival schedule such as the Festival of Bands, Jazz Band Classic, Milk Carton Boat Races, International Showcase Concert and Dragon Boat Races. The Portland Rose Festival is constantly changing and adding new events, while still maintaining a traditional link with its rich past. It’s that kind of spirit that has kept the Rose Festival fresh and exciting, even from its small beginnings more than 90 years ago.