Pleasanton Rose Show moves to Museum on Main for 86th installment

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A look toward the Pleasanton Arch and Museum on Main in downtown Pleasanton. (Photo by Chuck Deckert)

The Pleasanton Rose Show, an annual display of beautiful blooms on Mother’s Day weekend, will be back in 2026 at a new venue, with organizers cultivating a budding relationship with the Museum on Main to rescue the longtime event.

A snapshot of a past Pleasanton Rose Show. (Weekly file photo courtesy Rose Show)

There were concerns last year that the 85th Rose Show would be the final one, after the partnership between the Pleasanton city government and real estate firm Compass to host the event at the Pleasanton Senior Center was ending after 16 years.

Enter the Museum on Main, offering the opportunity to present an 86th Rose Show in the heart of downtown.

“The Pleasanton Rose Show is such a beautiful example of what makes this community special,” Tony Cruz, the museum’s executive director, told the Pleasanton Weekly.

“It began as a simple act of sharing and has grown into a cherished tradition for generations,” Cruz said. “We’re thrilled that Museum on Main can help keep that tradition alive and create a welcoming space for people to come together, celebrate, and connect.”

Museum officials noted that roses have a long history in the Tri-Valley, beginning with the Jackson & Perkins company planting the seeds in August Hagemann’s land west of Livermore in the 1930s. The Pleasanton Rose Show started soon thereafter, thanks to Harry J. Harding, president of the First National Bank of Pleasanton.

Millions of rose plants would grow in the region during the height of the rose industry boom in the mid-1950s, according to the museum. Natural and economic forces – as well as a destructive fire – led to the commercial industry largely winding down just over a decade later.

But the Pleasanton Rose Show lived on, a chance for local residents and growers to present their prized roses each year.

For the 2026 installment, entering a rose to be judged will cost $5 per person. The flowers must be dropped off at the museum between 8-9:30 a.m. May 9; the museum will provide vases for single roses.

Then the 86th Rose Show will run from 1-4 p.m. May 9 at the museum, 603 Main St. The free event will also feature live music on the museum’s front lawn, snacks for purchase from a Cub Scouts booth, and demonstrations from Western Garden Nursery on planting and caring for roses.

Learn more at pleasantonroseshow.com or museumonmain.org.