The 93rd Texas Rose Festival runs Thursday, October 15, through Sunday, October 18. Almost everything on the free side of the schedule happens in or next to the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden on Rose Park Drive. That garden costs nothing to enter, stays open every day from sunrise to sunset, and lists October as one of its two peak rose months, depending on the weather. The festival takes up four days, and the garden it orbits stays open every day of the year.
Why the festival lands in mid-October
The timing goes back to how the event started. The Tyler Morning Telegraph traces the festival to 1933, when Tyler Garden Club members, the Chamber of Commerce and local residents created it to build interest in the area's rose industry. That industry grew out of a loss. In the early 1900s a peach disease wiped out Tyler's fruit business, and farmers who switched to roses found the growing conditions suited them.
Tyler Parks and Recreation says spring rose season comes in April and fall rose season begins in October. It lists April and October as the peak months, depending on the weather. A festival held in mid-October falls inside one of those two peak months.
This year's theme is "Celebrations through the Seasons," according to the official 2026 festival brochure, and Claire Ann Malone is the 2026 Rose Queen.
The free half of the schedule stays close to Rose Park Drive
Most of the ticketed events take place away from the garden. Both coronations are at the R. Don Cowan Fine & Performing Arts Center on University Boulevard. The Ladies' Luncheon is at Green Acres Baptist Church's CrossWalk Conference Center, and the Men's Luncheon is at Cascades of Texas on Briarwood Road. Nearly all of the free events, apart from the parade route, happen at the Rose Garden Center or on the garden grounds.
| Day | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct. 15, 10 a.m. | Ribbon cutting and morning prayer service | Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Park Dr. | Free |
| Thu–Sat, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun, noon–4 p.m. | Rose Display | Rose Garden Center | Free |
| Thu–Fri, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sat, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. | Palette of Roses Art Show & Sale | Rose Garden Center | Free to browse |
| Sat, Oct. 17, 9 a.m. | Texas Rose Festival Parade | Front Street to Rose Stadium | Free along the route |
| Sat, 1–3 p.m. | Queen's Tea and Master Gardeners Rose Garden Tour | Tyler Municipal Rose Garden | Free |
| Sat, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Vintage festival display open house | Goodman-LeGrand House and Museum, 624 N. Broadway Ave. | $3 suggested donation |
| Sat, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | Arts & Crafts Fair | Bergfeld Park, 1510 S. College Ave. | Concessions for purchase |
According to the Telegraph, the Rose Display uses hundreds of blooms arranged to match the theme and stays up for the whole festival. The Queen's Tea is the one time the court's handmade costumes can be seen up close without a coronation ticket. The paper describes it as a meet-and-greet with time for photos, and the Master Gardeners tour runs at the same time. If you're going to the tea, enter on the ground level of the Rose Garden through the gate.
The Bergfeld Park fair is the one event that pulls the weekend south of the garden. It has more than 90 vendors selling jewelry, paintings, photography and other handmade work, plus a kids zone, food trucks and live entertainment. Visit Tyler lists a playground, picnic areas, an amphitheater and a dolphin-fountain sprayground at the park, so anyone with small kids has somewhere to go between vendor tents.
For the ticketed events, the brochure lists matinee coronation seats at $15 to $50 and evening seats at $30 to $85. The Telegraph reported that interior designer Jan Showers is the Ladies' Luncheon keynote speaker and that former Dallas Cowboy and Air Force veteran Chad Hennings is speaking at the Men's Luncheon. As of Sunday night, the paper said some luncheon seats were still available.
Saturday's parade is the one event that crosses town
The parade starts at 9 a.m. at Glenwood Boulevard and Front Street. It heads west on Front Street to Fair Park Drive and finishes inside CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium at 609 Fair Park Dr. The Telegraph counts a little more than 100 entries, including professional floats, classic cars, marching bands, school groups and the queen's court. KETK-TV is the sponsor.
Watching from the curb is free. If you'd rather sit, the brochure lists home-side seats inside Rose Stadium at $10. The paper's parking advice comes down to a few steps:
- Arrive before the roads close, and be in place along the route by 8:30 a.m. at the latest.
- If you want to walk in, come off Loop 323 onto Bellwood Road and park around Rose Stadium or in the Rex-Hide Industries parking area.
- For seating near the garden, use the empty lots across from the W.T. Brookshire Conference Center on West Front Street. The festival sets up public bleachers there, and there's grass to stand on around the conference center and the Rose Garden complex.
The third option puts you within walking distance of the Rose Garden Center. You can watch the parade go by on Front Street, walk over to the Rose Display, and still make it back for the 1 p.m. Queen's Tea without moving the car.
After Sunday, the garden stays open
On Sunday the Rose Display's viewing hours end at 4 p.m. and the Bergfeld Park fair runs until 5 p.m. But the garden itself doesn't depend on the festival. The City of Tyler says the 14 acres hold more than 38,000 rose bushes in about 600 cultivars and calls it the world's largest public collection of roses. Admission is free. October is still a peak rose month in the city's description, weather depending, and the city notes that the garden's other plants bloom throughout the year.
The Tyler Parks and Recreation garden page sets out the rules for everyday visits:
- Hours: Daily, sunrise to sunset.
- Food: Bring your own lunch and eat on the lawn, at the picnic tables, or on the patio. When the gift shop is open, it sells sodas, water and snacks.
- Pets: Leashed, well-behaved pets are welcome outdoors.
- Shopping: The garden is for viewing only and doesn't sell roses or rose bushes. The city links to Visit Tyler's list of nurseries instead.
- Museum: The Tyler Rose Museum costs $3.50 per person. Posted hours differ between the city and festival websites, so check before you go, especially on a Sunday.
The city's seasonal calendar keeps going after the festival. The First Tuesday in the Garden series runs September through November, which gives you November's first Tuesday as another reason to come back. Holiday Lights in the Garden follows in December, from 5 to 8 p.m. daily. At the 2025 Holiday in the Garden bazaar, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported that the event supervisor said new yard art and permanent color-changing lighting had been added that year.
In practice, the calendar goes like this. The festival starts Thursday morning with a free ribbon cutting at 420 Rose Park Drive, during a month the city lists as peak rose season. A First Tuesday visit falls in early November, and December brings the lights. A Tuesday walk with a packed lunch two weeks from now costs the same as the Queen's Tea, which is nothing.
If festival weekend has you wondering which Tyler neighborhoods sit closest to the Rose Garden, Front Street, or Bergfeld Park, Brittany Sartain knows those streets well and is always happy to talk them through. Schedule a Free Consultation whenever you're ready, even if that's after the last float has pulled into Rose Stadium.
