Portland Rose Festival Celebrated in New Book

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - April 2, 2013 - PRLog -- New to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Portland Rose Festival by local author George R. Miller and the Portland Rose Festival Foundation. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

At the end of the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905, the president of the Portland Street Fair and Carnival Association, E.W. Rowe, presented the idea of an annual festival to Portland mayor Harry Lane. From that idea came the first Rose Festival called the Rose Carnival and Fiesta. It was held on June 20-22, 1907.

It was hailed as a huge success. "There is no reason in the world why Portland should not hold a rose festival every year," remarked the Oregonian on June 21. "Everyone will be happier and better all the rest of the year for the festival of roses." And indeed, that has been the case. From just a three-day event, the Rose Festival has expanded over the years to include many activities covering several months every spring and summer.

Highlights of Portland Rose Festival include:
•   The Hardy Rose
•   World War II—Keep the Home Fires Burning
•   The Country Booms; The Festival Blooms
•   A Younger, Hipper Festival
•   Multicolored Garden
•   Rose Festival Renaissance

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.