In 2009, City Commissioner Nick Fish and Rose Festival Queen Marshawna Williams first threw the big switch on Rose Festival’s opening night to light up the Portland Rose iconic neon sign mounted on a kiosk next to the Salmon Street Fountain. For ten years the brightly lit Rose has guided many thousands of visitors to the park for multiple festivities until the dynamic health events of 2020 changed everything.
“Through wars and economic depressions and recession, the festival has always been one of Portland’s primary sources of inspiration and healing,” says Jeff Curtis, CEO, Portland Rose Festival Foundation. “What’s clear to festival leaders today is that we want to provide that same inspiration and healing again.”
Wendy and Joe Gibson, owners of Ramsay Signs say: “We are excited to work with Portland’s Official Festival to gift the City with a message of hope during these uncertain times at one of Portland’s most prominent downtown locations.”
Ramsay Signs plans to finish work on the structural support by Thursday, and then complete the installation Friday, April 24, 2020 at 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., after which it will be illuminated nightly. The updated Rose sign — which can be seen from the Naito Parkway side and the river side — will shine above Portland’s waterfront during this pandemic as a symbol of hope.
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