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Rose Festival Moves Forward With Plan to “Parade in Place”

Portland, OR. You can show your community spirit by decorating your front porch or creating a mini float at home. “Bringing Community Together While Staying Home” is the idea behind this year’s The Portland Rose Festival celebration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rose Festival is modifying traditions in an effort to celebrate community spirit and resilience, and inspire hope. The concept is to be “Parading in Place!” Organizers invite you to join the festivities by submitting your entries for the Porch Parade in May, or the Grand Petite Parade in June.

Here’s all the information you need for the Porch Parade:

Rose Festival has always been a celebration of people, events, and traditions; bridging communities in the City of Roses and beyond. This spring we are asking members of the community to celebrate with us by decorating their front porches. Choose one of our themes as inspiration, or go wild with your own ideas. The purpose of decorating is to unleash your creativity and bring a smile to your friends and neighbors.

The Rose Festival will produce a virtual map with the locations of all our registered Porches, so you can plan a walk or drive around your neighborhood to see and share in the celebration.

Saturday, May 23 and Saturday, May 30 will each see a Rose Festival VIP Procession drive through select Porch Parade neighborhoods. 

Step 1: Register your display!

Registration is FREE!
You will be added to our Porch Parade Map.
As a special thank you, the first 100 Porches in the Portland Metro Area that register will receive a FREE Rose Festival Porch Parade lawn sign that will magically appear in your lawn, no need to touch it or interact with anyone.
The more registered Porches in your neighborhood, the better your chances are for having the Rose Festival VIP Procession to come by, so get your neighbors involved too!
If you have a rose garden out front that’s visible from the street or sidewalk, we’d love to have you be a part of our Porch Parade Map! Use the Porch Parade registration form to register your rose garden.

Step 2: Decorate Your Porch 

Choose one of our themes as inspiration, or go wild with your own ideas. The point of decorating is to unleash your creativity and inspire hope for your friends and neighbors.

Porches must be fully decorated by 12 noon on Saturday, May 16, and able to stay up until midnight Saturday, May 30.
Porches must be appropriate for a family-friendly audience.
Don’t have a porch? No problem! Feel free to decorate your lawn, the sidewalk, a window, or something else visible from the street or sidewalk.

Step 3: Explore, Celebrate, Share

Check the Porch Parade Map often to see how the celebration is growing!
Go for a walk around your neighborhood, take pictures of the Porches you find, and tag us on social to help share the joy! @pdxrosefestival #paradinginplace #RFporchparade #rosesforhope
The more people who take part, the more celebration there is to share, so get your friends and neighbors involved!

Rules & Regulations:

Displays must be fully decorated by 12 noon on Saturday, May 16, and able to stay up until Saturday, May 30, and must be appropriate for a family audience.
Displays should not focus on religious, political, ideological, or controversial themes or issues. Use of any political sign, social or political material is not permitted.
Portland Rose Festival reserves the right to exclude any displays that do not meet our guidelines or that feature content not aligned with our mission.
Registration for the Porch Parade or Grand Petite Parade and/or tagging @pdxrosefestival or using #paradinginplace, #RFporchparade, #grandpetiteparade, #grandfloralfun, #juniormakers, #starlightporchbright or #rosesforhope with related photos or videos on social media, grants the Portland Rose Festival permission to use your images and footage on any platform.

Here’s information on the Grand Petite Parade:

The Grand Petite Parade will premiere on Facebook Live on Saturday, June 6. This virtual parade will feature shoebox floats from community members, a celebration of marching bands, and other Rose Festival parade favorites. Just like the early Rose Festival parades that used Portlanders’ own roses to decorate the floats, participants are invited to use materials from home to build shoebox parade floats and submit photos to be included in the live stream.

Have you always wanted to see a float that features a unicorn? Can you imagine a float that is fit for the Rose Festival Queen? Do you have a favorite Rose Festival float from the past that you’d like to recreate (or improve upon) with materials from home? Create your own shoebox float and send in your photos and videos to be a part of the parade.

Don’t have any craft supplies at home? No problem! Does your family have a particular parade talent that you’ve always wanted to share? Forego the float and send in photos and videos of your family marching band, drill team, or synchronized baton routine!

Now is your chance to showcase your creativity and talents, and maybe win some fun Rose Festival swag in the process! Grand Petite Parade “Rosette Award” winners will be chosen from eligible entries and revealed during the live stream.

Step 1 – Create:

Grab a “shoebox” – Start with a base like a recently delivered online order box, or grandma’s hatbox, or your skateboard, or even an RC car to build on. It doesn’t have to roll, but it does need to meet the minimum size requirements.
Find your materials – Entries should be made from things you already have at home. You could use flowers from your yard, craft supplies, construction paper, dolls/action figures, paper mache, clay, paint, markers, sequins, seeds, or anything else you can find to bring your float to life!
Pick a theme and start building – floats can showcase an original design, recreate (or improve upon) a historical parade float, or tell a story about your vision for future Rose Festival parades!

Step 2 – Share:

Show us your progress – document the steps you take as you build your Grand Petite Parade float. Are you making marching band uniforms for your action figures – show us how! Are you making a butterfly float that flaps its wings – let us see how it works! Post progress pictures, tips and tricks, fun teases of your theme, or even bloopers on your social media and tag us @pdxrosefestival #paradinginplace #GrandPetiteParade for a chance to be featured on the Rose Festival’s social media prior to parade day.
Submit your entry – fill out the Registration Form and send us photos of your finished creation.

Step 3 – Celebrate:

Watch the parade – See your float featured in the the Grand Petite Parade on Facebook Live at 11am, Saturday, June 6, 2020.
Share your participation – All participants will receive a digital certificate acknowledging their participation in the first ever Grand Petite Parade!
Win Rose Festival swag – “Rosette Award” certificates will be given in several categories! Winners will receive souvenir 2020 Rose Vision lapel pins, and the Sweepstakes winner will be invited to attend a future Grand Floral Parade as guests of the Portland Rose Festival!

Rules and Regulations:

Completed floats should measure a minimum of 12” long by 10” high – there are no maximum dimensions.
Entries and themes must be appropriate for a family audience. Entry should not focus on religious, political, ideological, or controversial themes or issues. Use of any political sign, social or political material is not permitted.
All submissions must be received by 5:00 p.m., PST, June 1, 2020.
Portland Rose Festival reserves the right to edit photos and videos as needed.
Registration for the Grand Petite Parade or Porch Parade and/or tagging @pdxrosefestival or using #paradinginplace, #RFporchparade, #grandpetiteparade, or #rosesforhope with related photos or videos on social media, grants the Portland Rose Festival permission to use your images and footage on any platform.
Portland Rose Festival reserves the right to exclude any submissions that do not meet our guidelines or that feature content not aligned with our mission.
“Rosette Award” winners will be chosen from eligible entries and decided at the sole discretion of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation. Winners will receive prize notifications via email and any physical awards will be sent via standard US post.

How Do I Get Involved?

How Do I See It All?

Premieres on June 06, 2020 11:00 a.m.

Register Here

Get Involved

Start building and show us your float!

Join the parade! Complete our online Registration Form to submit your entry for the Grand Petite Parade. Eligible entries include shoebox floats, family marching bands, and other parade-style acts of showmanship! Share progress pictures, tips and tricks, fun teases of your theme, or even bloopers on your social media and tag us @pdxrosefestival #paradinginplace #GrandPetiteParade for a chance to be featured on the Rose Festival’s social media prior to parade day.

All entries must include 1-3 photos of the float or group. Shoebox floats wishing to be eligible for Rosette Awards must include a photo featuring the completed float from the front right side, “traveling” in the direction from left to right of the image frame. Videos are not required, but 1 video, up to 15 seconds in length, may be submitted in addition to photos.

All entries must be received by 5pm, June 1, 2020, in order to qualify for the Grand Petite Parade. If you have questions or need additional information, please send us an email with the subject line: Grand Petite Parade.

Helpful Tips and Award Information

You don’t need a shoebox to put your best foot forward! As long as your float meets the minimum size requirement and meets the rules for theme and content – it can be made from anything you already have at home. Floats are not required to roll or move, but extra creativity points may be awarded for motion, automation, or animation. You can begin with a theme or idea and collect materials to bring that float to life, or you can look around your home to find items you’d like to feature and build your float to suit your materials.

Get the whole family involved! Choose a design you can all get behind and work together. Are you the competitive sort…then why not pick a theme and let everyone build their own masterpiece?

Do you need help getting the creative juices flowing? Maybe the Rosette Award categories will help to inspire you! These awards for shoebox floats are based on the real awards given to all floral covered floats in the Grand Floral Parade each year. Grand Petite Parade Rosette Awards will be announced on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

Sweepstakes Rosette (Most outstanding float in the Parade)
Queens Rosette (Most creative float in the Parade)
President’s Rosette (Most effective overall floral presentation)
Governor’s Rosette (Best depiction of life in Oregon)
Royal Rosarian Rosette (Best craftsmanship and workmanship)
Rose Society Rosette (Most effective use and display of roses)
Rose Festival Court Rosette (Best example of enthusiasm and teamwork)
Grand Marshal Rosette (Best depiction of whimsy)
Theme Rosette (Best presentation of Rose Festival theme)
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Rosette (Best depiction of community spirit)
Peg Roseboro Rosette (Most artistic design and presentation)

See It All

Watch the Grand Petite Parade – Saturday, June 06, 2020 at 11:00 a.m.

Grab your snacks, gather the family, and watch the Grand Petite Parade on Facebook Live, 11 am on Saturday, June 6, at the Portland Rose Festival page. Follow us at @pdxrosefestival and on the Rose Festival Facebook Page to get updates and notifications.

The virtual parade will feature shoebox floats and creative entries from community members, a celebration of marching bands, and other Rose Festival parade favorites.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.