Rochester has had a 120-year love affair with the lilacs in Highland Park.
The final weekend of the 2025 Rochester Lilac Festival is here where residents catch their first whiffs of the coming summer in upstate New York.
The big event of the weekend is the annual Ford Lilac Run and Tim Hortons Timbits Trot on Sunday. The 46th annual road race begins with the 5K at 8 a.m., followed by the 10K at 9:15 and the trot at 11:30.
Ushering in the weekend on the stage Friday night is headliner The Aces, an alternative pop, indie rock band from Provo, Utah. Saturday’s headliner is the New Orleans-based jazz/funk act The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Closing out the festival on Sunday night is Beach Weather, an indie pop band out of Phoenix.
Entry to the festival is free.
Look back at the Rochester Lilac Festival through the years
The first Lilac Sunday was held in 1905 and within three years the crowd had grown to 25,000 spectators, according to an article titled “Rochester Loves Lilacs” by the Monroe County Library System.
Where to park at Lilac Festival
Parking is available at several nearby sites close to Highland Park. Parking cost is $7 from Monday through Friday before 2:30 p.m. After 2:30 p.m. and on the weekends the parking cost is $10.
The lots include parking at:
2025 Rochester Lilac Festival opens
See the lilacs, stars of the festival, in bloom
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— Bill Wolcott is a producer who helps cover the Buffalo Bills, high school and Rochester sports in general. The lifelong New Yorker has been a journalist for 31 years.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Lilac Festival through the years: Photos that take you back in time
Reporting by Bill Wolcott and Kerria Weaver, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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