Portland Rose Queen Has True Flower Roots

By Jill Brooke

Never doubt the ripple effects of taking loved ones to flower shows and into gardens.

For Anika Rigby, her beloved Uncle Travis would take her to flower shows and share his passion for petals and nature. This weekend that connection resulted in the high school junior being crowned the Portland Rose Festival Queen.

A longstanding tradition of the annual festival, which has been blooming for 119 years, is the Rose Festival Court Program. High school students from across the Portland  Oregon’s metropolitan area are selected as princesses and participate in leadership development, community service, public speaking opportunities, and festival events. At the conclusion of the program, one member of the court is chosen to serve as Queen of Rosaria and becomes an ambassador for Portland and the Rose Festival.

In 2026, the title of Rose Festival Queen was awarded to Anika Rigby, a junior at Lincoln High School. She was selected from a court of 15 princesses representing schools throughout the Portland area. Judges evaluated candidates based on leadership, scholarship, school involvement, volunteer service, communication skills, and overall character.

 “When I was younger my uncle would take me to the International Rose Test Garden and we would walk around and smell the roses, and get a snow cone,” recalls the auburn-haired beauty. “I didn’t realize I could be a princess let alone a queen until I started attending Lincoln High School and then things blossomed from there.”

Rigby plans to attend a four-year university to study government and journalism, pursue graduate studies in foreign relations, and later attend law school. She has expressed an interest in diplomacy and public service. As Queen, she will spend the next year representing Portland and the Rose Festival at events throughout the region, across the United States, and internationally.

Which may include visits to her Uncle Travis who lives part of the year in Italy and also is the publisher of Wildflower Media and Florists’ Review Magazine.

At this moment, the proud Uncle is gushing with pride. “I have thousands of images with us in flowers.,” he says. “She used to deliver roses to the Rose Garden.  We would go look at the past rose queen plaques, and find the other Anika‘s and I always told her she would be on the list one day. And we would giggle. And now it has come true!

Flower historian Jill Brooke is the author of “The Genius of Flowers” debuting July, 2026. A former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine, she founded Flower Power Daily and won  the 2023 AIFD (American Institute of Floral Designers.) Merit Award for showing how flowers impact history, news and culture.Listen to her on WPHT-AM every Wednesday night.