Darren McGrady, former personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II; Diana, Princess of Wales; and Princes William and Harry, speaks during the 2018 Texas Rose Festival Women’s Luncheon at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. Tickets to the festival’s luncheons go on sale Sept. 1.

Tickets to the Texas Rose Festival will go on sale Sept. 1, providing the public the first chance to secure a seat at some of the celebration’s most popular events.

Tickets are required to attend the festival’s formal luncheons and Rose Queen’s Coronation performances, all which will take place Oct. 18, and for reserved seating inside Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium during the Texas Rose Festival Parade Oct. 19.

The tickets will be available online at texasrosefestival.com. Tickets also can be ordered through the Cowan Center box office, which is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and can be called at 903-566-7424.

Seeing the Rose Show inside the Rose Garden Center, watching the parade along the route, attending the Rose Festival Arts and Crafts Fair in Bergfeld Park and attending the Queen’s Tea are free and do not require a ticket.

Admission to the Tyler Rose Museum located inside Rose Garden Center is sold at the museum.

Luncheons

Retired football coach Barry Switzer and entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd will be the speakers at the Texas Rose Festival Men’s Luncheon and Ladies’ Luncheon, respectively.

The Men’s Luncheon is set for 11:15 a.m. at the Cascades, 4511 Briarwood Road.

Switzer had a long career as a coach of college teams, most notably at the University of Oklahoma where from 1973 to 1988 his teams won three national championship.

He coached the Dallas Cowboys from 1994 to 1997. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl in the 1995 season.

Herd is an entrepreneur who was instrumental in founding the dating apps Tinder and Bumble. She has been recognized by publications as being one of the most influential young entrepreneurs in the United States.

The Ladies’ Luncheon is set for 11:30 a.m. at the Green Acres Baptist Church CrossWalk Conference Center, 1607 Troup Highway.

Tickets for both luncheons start at $50. Traditionally both luncheons sell out far in advance.

Coronation

The Rose Queen’s Coronation is a theatrical presentation of the rose queen and members of her court at the University of Texas at Tyler’s Cowan Center, 3900 University Blvd.

The ceremony will end with the symbolic crowning of Hanna Claire Waits, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Waits of Tyler, as the festival’s rose queen by Texas Rose Festival Association President Britt Brookshire.

Court members include Rose Princess Elizabeth Schoenbrun, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Schoenbrun, and Duchess of the Rose Growers Alexis Smith, daughter of Aaron Smith and Shannon Tate Burton.

The matinee will take place at 2 p.m. and the evening performance will be at 7. The cost of tickets to the matinee range from $10 to $35; the cost of tickets to the evening show range from $15 to $70.

Rose Parade

The Texas Rose Festival Parade will step off at 9 a.m. Oct. 19 on Front Street at Glenwood Boulevard and end inside the football stadium adjacent to the East Texas State Fairgrounds.

A pre-parade show is set to begin at 9 a.m. in the stadium. The show provides entertainment until parade units begin arriving.

Tickets to the reserved section seating in the stadium will cost $7 or $10.

More information about the festival including a schedule of events is available at texasrosefestival.com.