The Portland Rose Festival was started in 1905 by Harry Lane with an aim to make Portland city famous world wide as a rose city. He was the mayor of the city at that time. He expressed that the city should have a festival of roses each summer. So the first festival was started in 1907 to pay tribute to the elegant flowers. The festival is held annually in early June in Portland, Oregon in the United States.

This festival is sometimes called as “The Father of the Rose Festival”. Portland earned its nickname after thousands of pink rose bushes which were planted around the city. One can find different kind of roses during the festival. The festival also showcases Starlight Parade, Champ Car race at Portland International Raceway, a fireworks display, the Starlight Parade and carnival rides along the Portland waterfronts. Dragon boat races were included in 1989 on the Willamette River.