The Best Floral Festivals Of America

Floral festivals or festivals themed on flowers are some of the most popular festivals across the world. These festivals usually feature various entertainment and amusement events including carnivals, parades, floral shows, arts and craft shows, food fairs, and more. Flowers have always been associated with vibrancy, bright colors, beauty, and pleasure which are attributes that one can also associate with the floral festivals. Thus, these festivals attract large crowds to them. Below is a list of some of America’s most popular floral festivals.

9. The International Cherry Blossom Festival

8. The Rochester Lilac Festival

Another floral festival in the US, the Rochester Lilac Festival, is held every year in Highland Park in Rochester, New York. Over 1,800 bushes of lilac belonging to 500 different varieties bloom in the park in early May when the festival is held. It starts with a parade and also includes concerts and other attractions. Visitors can tour the Highland Park Arboretum for free. Food stands in the fields around the Arboretum offer a variety of cuisines to the visitors.

7. The Lompoc Valley Flower Festival

Every year the city of Lompoc in California hosts the five-day long Lompoc Valley Flower Festival at the at Ryon Memorial Park in the last full weekend in June. The festival began in June and is named after the commercial flower fields around Lompoc. Events at the festival include a carnival, arts and crafts, entertainment shows, and the crowning of a Flower Festival Queen.

6. The National Cherry Blossom Festival

A spring celebration in the form of the National Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Washington, D.C. every year in March. It commemorates the gifting of Japanese cherry trees from a Tokyo City Mayor to Washington, D.C. on March 27, 1912, as a symbol of the growing friendship between Japan and the United States. During this festival, marching bands and floats parade through the streets. Massive, colorful helium balloons are released in the sky. Music and showmanship are also part of the celebrations and parades.

5. The PHS Philadelphia Flower Show

Every year in early March the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society hosts a flower show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is dubbed the “world’s largest indoor flower show” and attracts over 250,000 people annually. Each there, the show is arranged on a particular theme. Prized specimens of rare flowers and beautifully landscaped gardens are displayed. Several competitions are also held based on the exhibits. Visitors to the show can also buy plants, seeds, cut flowers, craft items, etc., from the Garden marketplace. Live entertainment, culinary events, gardening workshops, and lectures are also held.

4. The Portland Rose Festival

The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held every June in Portland, Oregon. The Portland Rose Festival Association organizes the festival. It was held for the first time in 1907. Three parades and other activities are part of the celebrations. The Grand Floral Parade held during this festival is the country’s second largest all-floral parade. It is viewed by nearly 500,000 spectators who line up along the streets to watch as the parade goes by.

3. The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival

The six-day long Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival is held annually in spring in Winchester, Virginia. It is one of Virginia’s oldest civic celebrations and was held for the first time in 1924. Today, the festival attracts more than 250,000 visitors each year. The Apple Blossom Carnival and the Old Town Wine & Fine Arts Festival are the two main attractions of the festival. Many celebrities also attend these events. Prior to the festival, the city is cleaned up well and decorated with white, pink, and green festival colors.

2. The Texas Rose Festival

Every year in the third weekend of October, Tyler in Texas hosts the three-day Texas Rose Festival which celebrates the important role played by the rose-growing industry in the local economy. The festival was held for the first time in October 1933. The events at the festival center on the Rose Queen and her court which includes members of various wealthy families with long family histories dressed up in themed costumes. The President of the festival committee selects the queen and the court members every year. The interesting events held during the Texas Rose Festival include the Queen’s Tea where the public can mingle with the Queen and her courtiers, luncheons for men and ladies, Queen’s Coronation ceremonies, a rose show, a rose parade, various seminar, an arts and craft show, and much more.

1. The Washington State Apple Blossom Festival

This festival is held each year in Wenatchee, Washington in April-May. It started in 1920 as a one-day event and progressed to become an 11-day affair featuring food fair, carnival, golf tournament, parades, entertainment shows, and other amusements. It was started to celebrate the importance of the apple industry to the region.