ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The results are in. The Rochester Lilac Festival has been voted the second-best flower festival in the U.S. in a USA Today readers’ choice poll.
The festival at Highland Park, typically drawing half a million visitors a year, beat out festivals in Nashville, Cincinnati, Seattle, and other major cities. However, it didn’t take the top spot.
The Daffodil Festival in Ball Ground, Georgia, featuring over 20 million daffodil blooms, secured the most votes. The festival at Gibbs Gardens has over 60 daffodil varieties in shades of yellow, orange, white, peach, and deep gold.
The 128th edition of the Lilac Festival kicks off on Friday, May 8. It runs for 10 days in a row, filling Highland Park with the fragrant scents of lilacs, music, food, games, and other entertainment. It closes out on Sunday, May 17, which is when the annual Lilac 5K and 10K will take place.
This year’s festival will feature some nationally touring artists for its music headliners at the KeyBank Center Stage. You can see the music schedule here.
The festival all started with a local horticulturist, John Dunbar, planting lilacs in Highland Park and thousands of people showing up to see them. It features the most extensive lilac collection in the northeast.
Top 10 flower festivals in the U.S.
These are the flower festivals that made it onto the top 10 in the USA Today’s Readers’ Choice poll. Voting was open through Monday, March 2. You can read more about each festival here.
- First place: Daffodil Festival at Gibbs Gardens in Ball Grounds, Georgia
- Second place: Rochester Lilac Festival
- Third place: Zoo Blooms at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Fourth place: Northwest Flower & Garden Festival in Seattle, Washington
- Fifth place: Mackinac Island Lilac Festival in Mackinac Island, Michigan
- Sixth place: Dollywood’s Flower and Food Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
- Seventh place: North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina
- Eighth place: Tulip Time in Holland, Michigan
- Ninth place: Colorado Lavender Festival in Palisade, Colorado
- Tenth place: Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival in Nashville, Tennessee
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