The Rochester Lilac Festival, named one of the nation’s best flower festivals in a 2026 USA Today Readers’ Choice poll, has also become a food festival where you can nosh on a wide variety of portable fare as you sniff the lilacs and take in live music.
The 2026 festival, which marks its 128th year, will be held Friday, May 8, through Sunday, May 17. More than 500,000 visitors are expected to visit from across Western and Upstate New York, the tri-state area and Canada.
Here’s which food vendors are new this year:
Find more information at roclilacfest.com.
New food event for 2026
A new addition to this year’s festival will be The Lilac Table: A Tasting Collective, a premium food and beverage tasting event from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at 249 Highland Ave. (behind the Lilac Adventure Zone). It will include food and drink samples, a welcome drink, a high-energy DJ and complimentary shuttle service. You’ll have exclusive VIP SkyDeck access afterward. Tickets are $108.55.
Returning for 2026 is the Lilac Local Farmers Market, which brings together local growers, artisans and makers from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11 through 13. It takes place in the paved parking lot behind the Lilac Adventure Zone, near the purple crosswalk across Highland Avenue.
Tracy Schuhmacher is food, drink and dining reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle. Email her at tracys@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: New foods coming to the 2026 Rochester Lilac Festival
Reporting by Tracy Schuhmacher, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
