Rose Sunday celebrates new blooms for 2024 season, honors Texas Rose Festival

Published 5:45 am Monday, May 6, 2024

Community members and Texas Rose Festival supporters gathered at the Tyler Rose Garden Center to honor the beginning of the 2024 rose blooming season.

“Tyler is the home of the annual Texas Rose Festival, the largest floral celebration in the southwest,” Tyler Mayor Don Warren said during the annual Rose Sunday service. “We are grateful to have come together for 91 years this year to promote tourism, volunteerism and community pride.”

The ceremony, held each year, honors the industry that established the city as the Rose Capital of America. The Tyler Municipal Rose Garden blooms with over 15,000 rose bushes exhibiting about 600 varieties of roses. Warren read a proclamation declaring May 5 Rose Sunday.

The crowd of about 50 people also heard from 91st Texas Rose Festival Queen Frances Olivia Faulconer, Princess Merritt Elizabeth Dial and Duchess of the Rose Growers Alice Elizabeth Milton. Other members of the court and volunteers were also recognized.

Faulconer’s first encounter with the Rose Festival was as a royal attendant to the Queen in 2015.

“I was in awe,” Faulconer said. “After that, I just went every year and followed along with it, and now here we are.”

Texas Rose Festival President William “Bill” Evans said the festival’s mission is to promote the rose industry and continue its legacy of meaningful and profitable impact on the community and beyond.

The recipient of the Texas Rose Festival Scholarship was also announced.

The scholarship was awarded to A’Niya Hartsfield. Hartsfield is a senior at Tyler High School, where she is the valedictorian. She plans to attend Baylor University to study pre-dentistry and continue her education in dental school.

In high school, she was active in Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), the science club, the student council as vice president, the National Honor Society and Future Business Leaders of America.

The 91st annual festival will be held Oct. 17 through 20.

Rose Sunday is hosted by the family of Queen Faulconer, City of Tyler Parks and Recreation Department, the Tyler Rose Museum and the Texas Rose Festival Association.