The Welland Rose Festival in Welland Ontario owes its origin to the idea of Gabriel J Macoomb, a prominent resident of Welland who along with Eli Turonski, the chairman of the board of parks and the Welland Citizens Association founded the Rose Festival in Welland. The first Rose Festival was held on 21st June and it lasted four days, up to 24th June. The objective was to promote the town and its roses. The festival featured ethnic dances, exhibitions, songs and the rose show.
A competition for the title of Rose Queen was held at the first festival and young women between the ages of 16 to 22 were invited to participate. Several citizens of Welland contributed a number of prizes. The prize for the first Rose Queen was a silver Rose Bowl and a hand stitched quilt which was made by the senior ladies of Welland. The first lady to be crowned as Rose Queen was Donna Wellman.
Several floats decorated with thousands of roses were paraded to the delight of Welland citizens. It took nearly two months to prepare for the first festival which proved a resounding success. It was, therefore, decided that the Welland Rose Festival should be celebrated every year. With the passage of time several new events were added to the festival while some events were eliminated also.
The Welland festival is presently entering its 47th year and has come to occupy a place of pride in the community celebrations. The festival attracts around 30,000 spectators every year. The year 2008 is a special year as the city of Welland itself celebrates its 150th anniversary.
