The Rochester Lilac Festival has been in full bloom since May 8 and if you haven’t made it up yet, here’s your nudge: you have until Sunday, May 17. And the second half of this festival is genuinely stacked.
The Rochester Lilac Festival is the largest free festival of its kind in North America, celebrating the arrival of spring with 10 days of live music, art, food, and family-friendly fun. Held annually in Highland Park, a historic landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the festival showcases more than 500 varieties of lilacs in full bloom. Over 500,000 visitors are expected to attend the 128th edition of the festival this year.
For Finger Lakes families, Rochester is an easy drive: about 90 minutes from Corning, an hour from Ithaca, less from Geneva and Canandaigua. The festival is free to enter. The lilacs are at peak. Here’s everything happening in the final stretch.
Tuesday, May 12 : Rochester Music Hall of Fame Takeover
Tuesday features Scott Mayo & Prime Time Funk as the headliner, part of the Rochester Music Hall of Fame Takeover, with support from The Dawgs and Stoney Lonesome. The Farmers Market continues as well. This is the midweek sweet spot… smaller crowds than the weekends, all the atmosphere, easier parking, and a night of serious funk on the main stage.
Wednesday, May 13 : Seniors Day + Mikaela Davis
May 13 is designated as Seniors Day at the Lilac Festival offering a relaxed, joy-filled experience designed specifically for older adults, with lunch specials, specially curated music, and bus and van parking for senior homes. If you have grandparents who haven’t been to the festival in years, or ever, this is the day to bring them.
Mikaela Davis takes the KeyBank Center Stage on Wednesday, an indie, alternative, and Americana artist with a psychedelic folk, chamber pop sound, Rochester-born and now nationally recognized. Support comes from Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad at 5:30 p.m., with Mikaela Davis at 7 p.m. Watching a hometown artist headline the Lilac Festival main stage hits differently. This is one of the week’s most anticipated nights.
Thursday, May 14 : Joe P & The Zone Takeover
Thursday is the 94.1 The Zone Takeover featuring Joe P, an indie and alternative rock act out of New Jersey. The Demos open at 5:30 p.m., Joe P headlines at 7 p.m. A good weeknight option if you want a smaller crowd, a solid indie rock set, and easy access to all the food vendors before the evening show.
Friday, May 15 : Anees
Friday night’s headliner is Anees, an R&B, pop, and hip-hop fusion out of Virginia. Chi TheRealist opens at 5:30 p.m., Anees at 7 p.m. Friday night energy at a festival is its own thing – the crowd gets bigger, the vibe gets looser, and the lilacs look genuinely different at golden hour. If you’re going to pick one weeknight to make the drive up, Friday is it.
Saturday, May 16 : Art in the Park + The Lilac Table + JD McPherson
Art in the Park and the Small Business Circle run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. along Reservoir Avenue. Local artists, makers, and small businesses set up along the hill above the main festival grounds. It’s the kind of shopping where you actually find things you didn’t know you were looking for.
Something brand new this year: The Lilac Table is a first-ever tasting event featuring local restaurants and craft beverage producers, running from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. behind the Lilac Adventure Zone, with tents, lounge areas, a DJ, and a surprise guest MC. Think of it as a curated food and drink experience dropped into the middle of a flower festival. It’s the most uniquely Finger Lakes-adjacent thing on the festival schedule… supporting local producers, celebrating local food, in a spectacular outdoor setting.
And then the headliner: JD McPherson — rock & roll, R&B, and blues — takes the stage Saturday night, with Prime Time Brass opening at 5:30 p.m. and McPherson headlining at 7 p.m. If you know JD McPherson’s catalog, you already know this is a can’t-miss set. If you don’t, think high-energy roots rock with the soul of the best music you’ve ever heard at a roadhouse. It’s exactly the right energy for a Saturday night in a park full of flowers.
Sunday, May 17 : The Grand Finale: Lilac Run + Eggy
The last day of the Lilac Festival closes in the best way.
The 47th annual Lilac Run kicks off the final morning. The 5K begins at 8 a.m., the 10K follows at 9:15 a.m. Every participant receives a shirt, a medal, and snacks, and a party takes place after. At 11:30 a.m., the Tim Hortons Timbits Trot takes place: a one-mile run where participants run a half-mile, grab a Timbit, and run back. It is exactly as joyful as it sounds, and it is entirely appropriate for children.
Art in the Park and the Small Business Circle continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone who didn’t get their fill on Saturday.
And to close out the 128th Rochester Lilac Festival: Eggy (jam, funk, and psychedelic) headlines the final night, with High Fade opening at 5:30 p.m. and Eggy taking the stage at 7 p.m. A jam band closing out a flower festival in Frederick Law Olmsted’s park is such a perfect, only-in-Rochester ending that you almost can’t believe it’s real. Go.
The Practical Stuff Before You Load the Car
The festival opens daily at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. Best parking for the main festival site is the Main Lot on Elmwood Avenue, south of the festival grounds between South Clinton Avenue and South Avenue, west of Meadowbrook Road — opening at 9:30 a.m.
All guests 17 and younger must be escorted by a parent or guardian who is at least 21 years old with a valid ID.
The festival features a Sensory Space, offering a calm, inclusive area for guests with sensory sensitivities, located near the Elmwood Avenue entrance, with soft lighting, books, sensory toys, and comfortable seating, staffed by AutismUp volunteers throughout the festival. ASL interpretation is also provided at every headlining performance.
Wear comfortable shoes. Bring a reusable water bottle. Free water refill stations are located throughout the park. And if you go on Saturday, carve out time for both the Lilac Table and the JD McPherson set, because that combination is genuinely one of the better ways to spend an afternoon in New York State this month.
Six days, five headliners, 500 varieties of lilacs, and it’s all free! Here’s hoping the weather cooperates. Go get some lilacs. 🌸