ECHO Liang has always loved the beauty of the jacaranda flower, and took a four-hour road trip on Saturday from Brisbane with her friends to see Grafton's blooms.

But sitting in roadside seats at the float procession, she noticed a float with a difference.

"There was a sign on the side of the truck. I saw my name, then I read, 'Will you marry me'," she said.

Ms Liang looked up to see her partner of over a year, Stephen Chen, on bended knee with a ring box, asking the question he'd had planned for a few weeks.

With her friends and a few thousand people in the crowd watching, she said "yes".

"Her friends recommended the idea for me because I didn't know there was a Jacaranda parade," Mr Chen said.

"But when I saw the pictures and the information on the website, I decided to do this. I just followed my instinct."

Mr Chen organised the float, sign and flowers through local wedding planner Leah Wallace and, as the float with an empty arch pulled up in front of them, he completed the fairytale proposal under the jacaranda blooms of Prince St, and continued as part of the parade.

"It's so beautiful here. We love jacarandas; normally we drive to New Farm Park and it's my first time here," Ms Liang said.

"I love the flower. It's really beautiful and the festival is so nice.

"Here it's all purple and it's quite nice.

"I will never forget it."

The annual float procession attracted thousands to the parade, with schools, businesses, community groups and local bands filling the streets with colour and sounds.

One year after they missed their annual float due to the death of their teacher, the family and students of Merrick McCallum honoured his legacy with an electric display that took out the overall award for best float.