NEWBERG, Ore. — After scaling back to a run-and-walk event for the past few years, Newberg is bringing back the full Camellia Festival this spring.
The 18th Annual Camellia Festival is scheduled for Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., organized by the Chehalem Parks and Recreation District at the Chehalem Cultural Center, 415 E. Sheridan St. The event will once again feature a vendor marketplace, cultural performances, a plant sale, and the Oregon Camellia Society’s annual bloom show.
The festival carries particular weight in Newberg, which has held the informal title of “Camellia City” for more than seven decades. In April 1949, the city passed Ordinance 1055, making the camellia its official flower, and Camellia Day was first celebrated in 2009 with about 50 people at the Newberg Public Safety Building…