The 93rd Texas Rose Festival Opens in Tyler With Prayer, Pageantry and a Parade
Tyler's Texas Rose Festival runs Oct. 15-18 with coronations, a Saturday parade and a free Queen's Tea. Here is the schedule and what is free.
Tyler opened its 93rd Texas Rose Festival on Thursday morning the way it opens every year: with a ribbon cutting and a prayer service at the Rose Garden Center. Four days of coronations, luncheons, a parade and roses follow, running through Sunday, Oct. 18.
This year's court is led by Queen Claire Ann Malone, Princess Brynn Eve Ballard and Duchess of the Rose Growers Emmy Elizabeth Brewer, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported. Organizers told the paper the schedule took a year and a half of volunteer work to prepare.
A town that turned to roses
The festival dates to 1933, according to the Telegraph. Members of the Tyler Garden Club, the Chamber of Commerce and local residents started it to promote the city's rose industry. That industry grew out of hard times. In the early 1900s, a peach disease wiped out Tyler's fruit business. Farmers turned to roses and found the soil and climate suited them well.
It is a good story for any town. A blight that could have ended an economy became the thing the city is known for.
The schedule
Thursday, Oct. 15: The ribbon cutting and morning prayer service at 10 a.m. at the Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Park Dr., are free to the public. The rose display and art show are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 16: The Matinee Coronation begins at 2 p.m. at the R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center, 3900 University Blvd. That is where Queen Malone is crowned and the court's handmade costumes are unveiled. Tickets are $15 to $50. The Evening Coronation is at 7 p.m., with tickets $30 to $85. Former Dallas Cowboy and Air Force veteran Chad Hennings speaks at the Men's Luncheon. Designer Jan Showers speaks at the Ladies' Luncheon.
Saturday, Oct. 17: The Rose Parade starts at 9 a.m. at Glenwood Boulevard and Front Street and ends at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. Watching along the route is free. Organizers advise being in place by 8:30 a.m. The Arts and Crafts Fair at Bergfeld Park, 1510 S. College, runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with more than 90 vendors. The Queen's Tea is free from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Rose Garden, alongside a free Master Gardeners rose garden tour.
Sunday, Oct. 18: The crafts fair reopens 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the rose display is open noon to 4 p.m.
Tickets and details are at texasrosefestival.org.
Worth the drive
Festivals like this one are not about one queen or one parade. They are about generations of families who show up, volunteer, sew costumes and line the streets. In a time when so much of public life feels divided, a town that still opens its biggest week with prayer and still gathers on the curb to wave at floats is worth celebrating. If you are anywhere near East Texas this weekend, go.
Hero photo: Michael Barera via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and resized.
