87th Annual Azalea Fest Readies Its Return for Memorial Day Weekend on S. Oregon Coast

Published 04/13/26 at 7:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Brookings, Oregon) – A major stalwart of the state returns soon.

Planning is underway for the 87th Azalea Festival, coming back to Brookings over Memorial Day weekend, May 22–25. This year’s theme, “Living in Paradise,” anchors four days of parades, performances, community traditions, and family-friendly activities throughout the city.

Festival organizers say the Saturday morning parade will proceed rain or shine, and that all vendors have been decided upon for the popular Street Market on Frontage Road.

It all officially opens Friday evening with the increasingly popular Dance Party in Azalea Park, offering a chance to git down, south Oregon coast-style. The park will remain the center of activity through Sunday, hosting the Azalea Festival Ceremony, concerts including the “Rock the Park” series, the introduction of Pioneer Citizens, the Elks BBQ, and the second annual Brookings Got Talent competition.

A community church service is planned for Sunday morning.

Several long-running community events will also return, including the Quilt Show, Art Show, Masonic Breakfast, Kids Fishing Pond, and the Plant Show & Sale. The Curry County Cruisers Car Show will run Saturday and Sunday, and Sunday Airport Day is back with airplane rides and additional aviation-themed activities.

Azalea Festival Parade

A Memorial Day program organized by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 966 will close out the festival on Monday. One tradition that will not take place this year is the F-15 flyover from the 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field; the jets have been relocated as the base undergoes a transition, and organizers say alternative options are being explored.

The City of Brookings Azalea Festival Committee oversees the parade, Street Market, and all Azalea Park programming, while numerous local organizations host the additional shows, meals, and family events that round out the holiday weekend.

The Azalea Festival has been around since 1939, essentially a signature celebration of the Southern Oregon Coast. It has even recognition as an official Oregon Heritage Tradition.

Courtesy Azalea Park Foundation

One of the festival’s most notable moments came in 1962, when Brookings drew national attention by inviting former Japanese naval pilot Nobuo Fujita to serve as grand marshal. Two decades earlier, in 1942, Fujita had launched a small floatplane from a submarine offshore and attempted to ignite the redwood forests southeast of town - one of only two enemy aerial bombings on the U.S. mainland during World War II.

During his visit, Fujita presented Brookings with his family’s heirloom samurai sword, a gesture that helped forge an unexpected postwar friendship. https://azaleafestivalbrookingsoregon.com/

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