THOMASVILLE — The City of Thomasville is getting ready to welcome the crowds for the 101st Rose Show. 

The annual event begins Friday with a few new twists to the celebration. The annual Rose Bud Parade has been combined with the Rose Parade for a Friday night procession, said April Norton, managing director of marketing and communications for the city. 

“We are excited,” she said. “We are Rose Show ready.”

Norton updated council members on plans at a recent council workshop and said then that there were more than 60 applications for the parade, with more than half of those floats entries.

“A lot of kids groups couldn’t be part of both,” she said. 

The city talked with schools and merchants and opted to combine the two parades. The new, larger Rose Parade will begin Friday at 7 p.m.

This year’s Rose Show them is “Where Roses Reign, New Traditions Bloom,” and top parade entries will receive cash prizes. The Queen Award will be given to the best parade entry and the King Award will be given to the entry with the best use of the parade theme. 

The city chose those awards names to go along with the top winners of the Rose Show — the Queen of Show, which is the overall winner, and the King. 

A Rose Bud award will be given to the top children’s parade entry.

The Rose Show and Festival begins Friday at 9 a.m. with the opening of the Orchids on Parade. The Rose Show itself begins at 1 p.m. at the Remington Avenue and Broad Street tent, and the Thomasville Garden Club’s Flower Show begins Friday afternoon.

A street dance will take place at 8:30 Friday night, with the Swingin’ Medallions, following the parade. 

The Civic Garden Club’s annual Flower Show begins Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Ritz Amphitheater. The Rose Fest Market opens at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ritz. More than 65 vendors applied for space at the Rose Fest Market, Norton said, and there is room for only 16. 

Norton said feedback the city had received was that visitors had to choose either spending time in downtown or going to Paradise Park. 

“By having use of Ritz, we can bring everything in and it’s very walkable,” she said.

At noon, the annual Show and Shine car and truck show starts in front of the Thomas County Historic Courthouse on Broad Street, and the city will host a Sip and Shop from 5-10 p.m. Saturday. 

The Rose Fest Finale begins at 7 p.m. at the Ritz, with The Company Band performing. The weekend concludes Saturday at 9 with a fireworks show.

“The fireworks is our finale,” Norton said. “It allows our visitors to stay and not leave downtown and Thomasville at 4 and stay overnight. That is a change we are excited about.” 

Other elements to the Rose Show and Festival include the Roses in Restaurants, Norton said, with several restaurants concocting rose-themed creations and many businesses taking part in the window-decorating contest. 

“So you’ll see full window displays and larger than life photo opportunities throughout downtown,” she said.