The Portland Rose Festival is combining its Grand Floral Parade with its Starlight Parade to reduce costs.

“This unified parade allows us to create a bigger, bolder, and more immersive experience,” said Jeremy Emerson, president of Portland’s Rose Festival Foundation.

While the change reduced the number of parades held during the festival, Emerson remains positive.

“Imagine, if you will, the traditional beauty of grand floral floats bursting in color in the daylight, shifting to the energy of the starlight illuminated entries with all the music, the marchers, the community groups, and all the storytelling, all combined into one extraordinary event.”

Paula Harkin, who owns a store called the Portland Running Company, is also positive about the changes, saying more people will likely be able to enjoy the events now that they’ve been combined.

“I think it sounds magical,” she said. “I mean, getting everybody centered on the two parades together seems amazing.”

The festival is also moving the Junior Parade from a Wednesday to a Saturday, likely boosting attendance as kids will no longer be in school for the event.

“During the week, it’s kind of hard to get everybody away,” said Harkin. “So, I think that there should be even more people.”

The Rose Festival has a 118-year history in Portland, delighting children and adults alike.

But it’s been struggling financially since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The festival returned in 2022, but to smaller crowds. In 2023, it took a $600,000 hit, and in 2024, it lost more than $1 million.

Emerson said losses were less in 2025, but steps had to be taken to reduce costs.

“We remain committed to celebrating together as a community,” he said at a press conference announcing the changes. “And we hope to see you on the waterfront again this year.”

The festival’s main problem is that it’s three weeks of mostly free events with only one big financial driver -- the CityFair waterfront carnival.

Some Oregonians are also ambivalent about the Royal Rosarians and beauty pageants. But others love spending an afternoon waving to passing floats and watching the community at play.

The festival has weathered many changes over the years. It closed during World War I and then again in 1926 during the construction of Providence Park.

The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 also threatened to shut things down when ash fell on the streets, but the festival continued.

Other events, like the air show and auto racing, have also been cancelled without ending the festival.

As recently as the early 2000s, the Grand Floral Parade attracted 500,000 spectators.

In 2024, that number was down to 225,000. Last year, numbers picked up, but the festival still lost money.

Andrew Hoan, president of the Portland Metro Chamber, says the festival is very important to the community.

“It’s more than just the simple acts of gathering and celebrating,” he said. “It’s more than belonging. It’s more than creating magic on our streets and fireworks in the sky. This is also absolutely essential to the economic success of our city.”

Hoan remembers competing in the Starlight Run, dressed in a cheesehead, and thinks the new combined parades should be a lot of fun.

“I know it’s been a rough few years here in Portland. But 32 million people chose to come to the central city [last year]. So they didn’t get the memo about not coming to Portland,” he said. “They got the memo that there’s something to do in Portland. They came to our events, our cultural celebrations, our restaurants, our symphonies, operas and ballets.”

The festival this June will include carnival rides, fireworks and concerts on the waterfront; a court of 14 princesses; parades, a ‘wine walk,’ a 5k race, and the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Week, as well as two kinds of boat races, dragon boats and homemade milk carton boats.

Another problem for the festival has been sponsorship.

Spirit Mountain Casino declined to renew its sponsorship, as did Portland General Electric. The three remaining premier sponsors include Fred Meyer, Alaska Airlines and CareOregon.

Additionally, rain has always posed a problem for the festival. June can be very wet in Portland.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/28/portland-rose-festival-combines-two-parades-into-one-this-summer/