The Burnside Blog

Posted By Mike Thelin on 06/03/2008

In 2007, the Portland Mercury and City Commissioner Randy Leonard forged an unlikely marriage in the fight against a common enemy: Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade spectators who in recent years have taken to using duct tape to mark off desirable sections of sidewalk along the parade route on the eve of the event.

While last year’s conflict had no immediate resolution, a band of young Portlanders led by Portland Mercury Publisher Steven Humphrey took the law into their own hands and spent an evening ripping up duct tape on the eve of the parade. Then in March 2008, the city announced that a ban on taping would be enforced in 2008. As today’s Oregonian reminds us, violators of the taping ban will be fined $500. The ban also means that Mercury Readers won’t get to spend an evening angering would-be spectators.

While Leonard’s opposition to taping was rooted in public safety (disputes over marked territory have resulted in fist fights in the past), it’s safe to say that the Portland Mercury’s jumping on the duct tape bandwagon had little to do with safety concerns. Mercury readers are young, hip and have absolutely nothing in common with the droves of people who descend on Portland once a year for the Grand Floral Parade. The impromptu duct tape removal seemed like nothing more than an excuse to get rowdy and tick off those who only come downtown for big events, like the Rose Parade. While I don’t endorse tape removal, I can definitely see both sides. After all, culture wars are complicated.

Don’t get me wrong, the ability to mark one’s spot with duct tape on the eve of any public event is unfair for obvious reasons, but I believe the debate spurs greater questions, namely, if the Rose Festival has any resonance at all with the average Portlander in 2008.

For Downtown residents like me, the Rose Festival is little more than a great excuse to skip town for the weekend. The festival began last week, and I’ve heard no one in my peer group even mention it, other than a friend of mine who had to rearrange dinner plans with me on Saturday night because he couldn’t find a parking spot due to traffic from Saturday’s Rose Festival Starlight Parade. Last year, a friends car was towed to make room for horse trailers, even though there was no signage prohibiting parking.

The parade is surely great for kids and families, but it seems that the annual showcase could become much more if it were to include activities to highlight the art, music, food and design for which Portland has become renowned. Perhaps then, there wouldn’t be such a divide between young Portland residents and the thousands of people who attend the parades and the Rose Festival carnival on Portland’s waterfront.

Is the Rose Festival relevant? Is the fun center a good use of our celebrated waterfront? What would you do to change it? I really want to know what you think.