Spring is here and celebrating the 127th blooming of the Tombstone Rose Tree with a parade and festival is one way to welcome the season. Tombstone will host its 2012 Tombstone Rose Festival Friday – Sunday to show off the “softer side of Tombstone history.â€
Tombstone’s Lady Banksia rose bush arrived from Scotland in 1885 as a gift for a homesick bride. The cutting grew into the world’s largest rose bush now covering 9,000 square feet with its foliage and producing millions of blossoms.
The festival will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday, with the Tombstone Vigilettes crowning the Rose Queen and her court under the rose tree. The public is invited.
Saturday activities include: a pancake breakfast, 7 a.m. in the Tombstone Community Church at 2nd and Allen Streets; music with Mariachi Apache from Nogales, 10:30 a.m. at the Allen Street Stage between 5th and 4th Streets; old fashioned lunch-box auction, 11:30 a.m. at the Allen Street Stage between 5th and 4th Streets; parade with Fort Huachuca’s 62nd Army Band and B Troop, 4th Regiment, U.S. Cavalry (Memorial) at 1 p.m. along Allen Street; and folkloric dancers from Douglas, 3 p.m. at the Allen Street Stage.
The Tombstone Restoration Commission will host a round-table discussion with descendants of Tombstone pioneer families at 4:30 p.m. in the Tombstone Community Church at 2nd and Allen Streets.
New this year will be a student “Art in the Park†presented by Cochise County students, sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, Post 24, in partnership with the Tombstone High School Future Business Leaders of America. It begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday in the City Park, 3rd Street and Allen.
People and pets can join the Tombstone Small Animal Shelter Pet Parade at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. For information or registration, call the Tombstone Small Animal Shelter, 1.520.457.2545 or go to http://bit.ly/2012pp.
There is never an admission fee to visit historic Tombstone. For more information about the festival, call the Rose Tree Museum, 1.520.457.3326, email Rose_Festival@msn.com or go to www.tombstoneweb.com.
