The Portland Rose Festival is a spring event held on the SW waterfront in downtown Portland. The festival itself consists of games, rides, fireworks, “fleet week”, the Starlight Parade, and most popularly, the Rose Parade. The Rose Festival comes from Portland’s nickname, “The City of Roses” and celebrates the community and history of our city. At the first ever festival in (year), the city crowned the first Rose Queen. This was an annual tradition until 1931, when the first Rose Court was elected. One Rose Princess from each local high school is selected and represents their school on the court. Still, one exceptional individual on the court is selected to be the annual Rose Queen as well!
Princess announcements happen in late February or March, in the days leading up to spring break. Typically, 3-5 upperclassmen candidates run for Rose Princess and a panel of community judges makes the final decision. Court Members attend training sessions covering topics including media training, networking, public speaking and more. The Court travels visiting community events, business leaders, hospitals, senior living centers, youth organizations, civic groups, and participates in the Rose Festival’s events.
The Randall Group, one of the leading owners and operators of commercial real estate on the west coast, gifts each princess a $3,500 scholarship to further their education. Providing scholarships for school has been the main mission of the program since they began doing so in the 1930’s. All candidates running are asked to present a speech and participate in a panel interview, which is judged on character (50%), communication skills (25%), and presence (25%). The winner is half decided by the vote of community judges, while the school/student vote makes up the other half.
Heleen Redbird, our 2024 Rose Princess says she feels like the program “gives girls an opportunity to express themselves and what they hold dear.” The program is a chance for students to represent their community, and Portland as a whole. One of Heleen’s favorite experiences as Rose Princess was the Grand Floral Parade, since it was so fun getting ready with the girls and meeting others performing in the parade. She fully recommends running if you’re interested, because of the friendships you make with girls in different courts across Oregon, and connections to future jobs and internships!
Gloria Zawadi, a senior here at Roosevelt, is our 2025 Rose Princess. Gloria feels like the biggest reason she chose to run is because community is important to her and she wants to see more representation and what better way then to be the representation herself. One of Gloria’s goals this year is to encourage more people of color and ensure they are seen and their voices are heard. So far, the Rose Court has only attended one event as a group: The Blessing of the Festival. This is an ongoing tradition in Rose Court history to kick off the festival with the court’s first public appearance at Saint John Fisher Catholic Church in South West Portland. Gloria says this was a great first opportunity “To get closer with the girls from other schools and learn more about them and their interests.” Gloria is excited to experience some of the festival’s events for the first time and looking forward to the Starlight Parade!
This year’s festivities will begin on May 23rd (Opening night) with fireworks and live music, and continue through June 7th ending with the Grand Floral Parade. The waterfront is lively, full of fun activities and definitely worth a visit this spring!
