The Friday Queen’s Coronation has Moved Indoors Due to Weather Concerns
The Portland Rose Festival 'Rose City Reunion' wraps up with military majesty, royal regalia and a grand ole time this weekend. Portland’s Official Festival sets the final stage with the return of Fleet Week and big grey hulls docked along the waterfront sea wall. The nation’s largest and oldest Rose Show presented by the Portland Rose Society is on display at the Lloyd Center.
On Friday, the Queen’s Coronation presented by Unitus Community Credit Union, will announce the 100th Queen to wear the one-hundred-year-old traditional Crown of Rosaria. Saturday, the grandest of all parades, the Spirit Mountain Casino Grand Floral Parade, steps out from Veterans Memorial Coliseum to blaze a new-again trail through east Portland.
Fleet Week is back, and the U.S. Navy is coming to town to renew its more than one-hundred-year tradition of portage upriver to Portland. Her Majesties Canadian Ships are already docked and the U.S. Navy along with the U.S. Coast Guard vessels arrive this afternoon. Tours are open today for the Canadian ships, and starting Friday, for the Navy and Coast Guard. Tours last through Sunday. All ships are scheduled to depart Monday morning. For tour times check this website.
The Portland Rose Society annual Spring Rose Show starts today, Thursday, 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. and goes through Friday, 10:00 to 5:00 p.m., at the Lloyld Center Mall. And the display can be seen on the 2nd floor walkway above the Ice Rink. The oldest and largest Rose Show in the United States is FREE to the public.
Friday at 11:00 a.m., the 100th Queen to wear the one-hundred-year-old Crown of Rosaria, will be announced at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland. (The Queen’s Coronation presented by Unitus Community Credit Union, originally planned for outdoors at the magnificent Peninsula Park Rose Garden, was moved to this indoor location due to weather.)
Saturday, June 11, at 10:00 a.m., the Spirit Mountain Casino Grand Floral Parade steps off from Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Parade will travel a new 2-mile path all on the east side of the river for the first time since the 1940s. Parade fans should plan on staking out their spots on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and NE Lloyd Boulevard, as the parade makes it way to the Lloyd Center. In a tribute to the dedicated Rose Festival staff that worked to keep the Festival afloat the last two years, Grand Marshal of the 2022 Parade is Jeff Curtis, outgoing Chief Executive Officer of the Portland Rose Festival.
The 2020 and 2021 Rose Festival Courts, that did not get to ride in the Grand Floral Parade due to the pandemic shutdown, will join with the 2022 Court and a special group of marching former Court members and Queens, in a special Royal Reunion section. The 2020 and 2021 Royal Rosarian Prime Ministers and the former president of the Portland Rose Society, who also missed being honored these last two years, will join with the past Courts for this special recognition moment. Other sections include: Reunion of Heroes presented by OnPoint Community Credit Union and the International Reunion presented by Darigold.
Tickets are available for climate-controlled reserved seating inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum here at this website!
CityFair at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, is open Friday through Sunday, 12:00 noon to 9:00 p.m. The theme Fairy Tales will be celebrated throughout CityFair, including the Darigold Kids Zone. Featured in the RoZone is Modestep DJ Set on Saturday, on the Dick’s Auto Group Stage. Also featured are the popular Funtastic Traveling Shows carnival rides, Artslandia Stage the Jim Neil Memorial Museum - plus great food and drink for the whole family!
Saturday and Sunday, fans can catch the Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race at the bowl area of Waterfront Park, as the ornate and traditional dragon boats race for the flag on the Willamette River between the Hawthorne and Marquam Bridges. The race viewing is FREE to the public.