In May, Highland Park will be popping in purple. And the stars of the Rochester Lilac Festival are on track to be in beautiful bloom on the hillside at Highland Avenue and Goodman Street.
"Right now looking at the lilacs, we're pretty comfortable that we're going to have a pretty good bloom ... assuming we don't get a lot of real warm weather, we should be in pretty good shape," said Mark Quinn, superintendent of horticulture for the Monroe County Park System on Thursday.
He said an early look at forecast through the end of the month and into May shows Rochester will stay in the 50s and 60s, which is right where the more than 1,200 lilac shrubs like temperatures during their final push to peak bloom.
While Quinn admitted its a little early to know for sure how things will look over the 10-day festival that runs from May 10 to May 19, his guess was that the first weekend will be stronger than the second.
"But the one thing we do know, we absolutely will have lilacs in bloom during the festival," he said.
With over 500 varieties on lilacs, the bushes bloom at various times, giving visitors a show no matter when they come. "We have a really long period of bloom," Quinn said, noting some would even pop after the festival.
He said Rochester's spring was a little concerning in its early days as there were some warm days and other plants and trees in Highland Park and elsewhere were blooming early. But Mother Nature has settled into a good pattern for the lilacs to bloom with the festival.
The park tries to time the festival when the largest part of the collection is in bloom, he said.
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He and festival organizers — and the some 500,000 people who converge on Rochester for the event — also have history on their sides.
"If we look back, we got more than 100 years of records to look at and out of that time, 85 percent of the time, the lilacs bllom within that second week of May," Quinn said. The earliest bloom arrived on April 29, back in 1946. The latest? June 6, many decades ago.
"But with the weather we're looking at, it's looking very positive for us," he said.
The festival includes music, vendors and family activities, including a sensory tent, for the 10 days. The festival runs from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day and is free to wander the grounds and view the lilacs.
Pro-tip for enjoying the Rochester Lilac Festival
If you enjoy the fragance of the lilac, you want to come early or stay late, Quinn said.
"It has to do with the wind," he said.
The winds calm just after sunrise in the morning and right before sunset in the evening.
"You get a really nice experience," Quinn said. "Most people aren't here at 5:30 or 6 in the morning, but just before sunset, that 8 o'clock time, it's just a great time to view lilacs."
About the Rochester Lilac Festival
The Lilac Festival is celebrated every spring coinciding with the blooming of the most extensive collection of lilacs in the Northeast. It began in 1898 and some of the oldest shrubs date back to 1890s.
This year there are more than 80 scheduled performances between May 10 and May 19.
The Lilac Parade is set for May 11. Art in the Park, a juried art and craft show, will be held both festival weekends and include 300 vendors.
For more information about this year’s event, visit www.roclilacfest.com or follow on social media at facebook.com/RochesterLilacFestival/.
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