Rochester (New York) festivals · Festivals in Rochester (New York)
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Festivals in Rochester (New York)
Festivals in Rochester (New York)
Once May rolls around, snow becomes less likely, and Rochester's renowned festival season begins. Pretty much every weekend from May through October, there's at least one festival of some sort going on in Rochester or its suburbs. Rochester's festivals run the gamut, focusing on such diverse subjects as horticulture, music, crafts, and food?and admission is free for almost all of them!
The flagship festival is, of course, the Lilac Festival, which has been drawing visitors from out of town to Highland Park for over a century. A much newer arrival is the Rochester International Jazz Festival, which in just a few years has become one of the world's top jazz festivals. Less well-known outside of Rochester is the Park Ave Fest, but it epitomizes the local festival scene and shouldn't be missed if you're in town that weekend.
Among the suburban festivals, be sure to check out Fairport Canal Days in early June (6-7 Jun 2009). Of the many festivals centered on the Erie Canal, this may be the best, and it's held in the quintessential canal town.
The closest Renaissance Festival is in Sterling, Cayuga County. It's about 45 minutes away, but it's worth the trip. It's open weekends from July through mid-August every year.
There are many cultural festivals around the city and the local areas, including Greek and Turkish Festivals.
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Rochester (New York) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.