The first ring sets the first night
The Rose City Classic runs Thursday, Jan. 21, to Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027, at the Portland Expo Center. The run opens with individual breed specialties and an all-Terrier group show. Four all-breed shows follow across the four days.
Conformation, junior showmanship, obedience, Rally and agility run on all four days. Trick Dogs and Canine Good Citizen run Thursday and Friday. Scent Work runs Friday through Sunday.
A Thursday opening makes the Wednesday night part of the booking.
Four nights, Wednesday Jan. 20 to Sunday Jan. 24
Check in Wednesday, Jan. 20. Check out Sunday, Jan. 24. That is four nights, for the nights of the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd, with a room behind every show day.
The Wednesday night puts a bed between the drive and the first ring. A Thursday arrival moves that drive onto the opening morning.
The Sunday checkout happens in the morning. The car carries the bags, and the noon contest stays on the schedule.
The headquarters block
The headquarters hotel is the Holiday Inn Portland Columbia Riverfront, formerly the Red Lion Hotel on the River, at 909 N Hayden Island Dr, Portland, OR 97217. The exhibitor page reads that the property has held the headquarters for over three decades.
The block number is 503-283-4466. The booking instruction is to reserve under the Rose City Classic name.
Reservations for the January 2027 event opened Oct. 15, 2026. The same page asks exhibitors to make their reservations early.
A block fixes the rate ahead of the show. Ask the property to confirm three items in writing before a deposit: the nightly rate and what it includes, the cancellation deadline and any fee, and whether the rate holds if the stay shifts by a night.
No page of the show publishes a rate, a deadline or a penalty for the 2027 block.
The morning clock
The spectator page reads that the building opens to the public at 7:30 a.m. and that official show hours run 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It adds that variety group and Best-in-Show judging sometimes run later.
That page still carries the January 2026 dates. Read the two times as the prior cycle's pattern and confirm them closer to the show.
The 2027 judging program is not published. The schedules page asks readers to check back around Jan. 10.
Enter the dog before booking the flight
Entries close Jan. 6, 2027, fifteen days before the first ring. The show calls it an early closing date. Entry runs through the superintendent, Jack Onofrio Dog Shows.
The entry count produces the schedule. Those breed-by-breed times decide whether the Wednesday night is loading-in or resting.
Beginner Puppies at four to six months compete on Saturday. Meet-the-Breeds runs Friday through Sunday, and the spectator page lists more than 70 breeds.
Parking at the venue
Two figures sit on the show's own pages. The spectator page reads that the Expo charges $13 for parking. The venue's parking page reads "Parking is typically $15 per car per entry" and adds that special-event prices may vary.
Four days at $15 is $60. Four days at $13 is $52.
The venue sells parking in advance through its own page. The exhibitor page reads that reserved parking information will sit in the premium list, due mid to late November.
The finals
The Supreme Specialty Challenge, billed as the Best of the Best, runs Sunday at noon. The ring location is to be announced.
The noon start keeps the Sunday morning checkout workable.
Getting there
Portland International Airport sits 15 to 20 minutes from the headquarters hotel. The host hotel does not provide an airport shuttle.
Alaska Airlines offers Rose City Classic passengers 7 percent off its lowest published fares for travel between Jan. 18 and Feb. 1, 2027. The 2027 fare code is ECMQ338. The show states the saving at $50 to $100 per passenger and an airline charge of $150 each way to fly a dog.
Driving from Interstate 5, traffic from the north takes exit 306B and traffic from the south takes exit 307, both following signs for Marine Drive and the Expo Center.
The order to book in
Book the room first. Enter the dog second. Book the flight third.
The block opened on Oct. 15. The entry carries a published deadline of Jan. 6. The airfare discount runs to Feb. 1.
A party of ten or more rooms a night can also send the dates through hotelhuddle, where one request reaches more than 50 hotels in the destination city at no charge and the traveller pays the hotel directly. Some hotels take five rooms as a group.