The Rochester Lilac Festival (@rochesterlilacfestival), a celebrated institution marking the commencement of spring and the festival season, is ready to kick off on Friday May 9th! This year, the festival commemorates 127 years of tradition, having evolved from a modest gathering into a grand ten-day event that attracts over half a million visitors.

Guests can expect diverse attractions, including an enhanced VIP experience, a farmer's market featuring local vendors, and a lineup of musical performances that resonates across genres. And don't forget about the food and drink options! The festival not only showcases the exquisite beauty of lilacs but also fosters community engagement through inclusivity initiatives such as ASL interpretation and sensory spaces for families.

roclilacfest.com

Mentions:

Casa Larga (@casalargawinery) - Rohrbach Brewing (@rohrbachbrewingco) - Firefly Mobile Bar (@fireflynectarmobilebar) - Red Jacket Juice (@redjacketny) - 1911 Cider (@1911established) - Bully Hill Vineyards (@bullyhillvineyards) - Northglow Photography (@northglowphotography) - Monroe Med Spa (@monroemedspa)

Cruel Summer (@cruelsummerband) - Chayce Beckham (@chaycebeckhammusic) - Beach Weather (@beachweather) - Katie Pruitt (@katiepruittmusic) - The Aces (@theaces)

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone. Use promo code Lunchador for 15% off your order! https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Check out the Pauly Guglielmo Show (@googs0105) each Sunday to learn about the ups and downs in business and life!

Mind of Magnus

Check out Mind of Magnus at magnusapollo.com, and leave him factoids at 585-310-2473! https://mind-of-magnus.captivate.fm

Well, that music means it's time for another episode of Just can't not.

Matt, how you doing today?

I am wonderful.

How are you?

That music always gets me going.

Yeah, I think that was, I mean it was a great choice when you found that music.

Real serendipity, real luck on that one.

Yeah, I was, I was really happy with that because it's always hard to find the music you want like for food about town.

Like I had tourist savant make the music because I wanted the music I wanted.

Yeah, but like you found something that really fit what we were trying to do.

Thanks.

I'm glad we did it.

We work well together.

Chris here in part of the magic.

So we're here today to talk to an institution, Rochester.

Something that defines the start of spring, the start of the of the festival season here in Rochester.

Guests, why don't you introduce yourself and tell us what you're involved with.

Hi everyone.

My name is Jenny Lomaglio.

I'm the executive producer of the Rochester Lilac Festival.

And I'm Regan Burns.

I'm the head of marketing and business development for the Rochester Lilac Festival.

So Lilac Festival is like I said, kind of the tent pole for starting festival season here in Rochester.

And you see everybody coming out because it feels like we're finally taking off the extra clothes, taking off the heavy jackets, getting out, really enjoying what Rochester has to offer.

What I'm kind of wondering, how long is the Lylike Festival been going on?

And I could walk over to the festival and it felt like it's been there forever.

But how long has it been going on?

So the event, if you guys want a little history.

Oh please.

Oh sure.

I mean, don't Wikipedia me, but you.

You are the expert.

Don't quote me.

Yeah.

And it sort of started off as lilac Sunday and 3,000 people gathered in the park and eventually it turned into a 10 day event.

But it didn't take long for it to turn into a 10 day event.

So within a few years it became 25,000 people.

So nothing to laugh about, but just.

Just a little thing, just a little bit.

No big deal.

In Pandemic, we've been through it, we get it well.

And I think that's also know just to pivot for a second.

Like the li wax are like, people think of the festival, they say Lilac festival.

And a lot of people don't walk amongst, you know, the amazing collection of lilacs and all the different varieties.

It is such a show in of itself, the flowers and being there.

Like I'm sure as somebody who's been involved for a while, like it has to be special even now just to walk through and see that every year and how it changes as the trees evolve and everything else.

I mean, we find the event very generational.

So you see grandparents and babies and everybody in between.

And not that those grandparents have been around since the beginning, but if they're there, then their grandparents were there as well.

And somewhere around the late 70s, it turned into what it sort of is now, with stages and music happening on the south end of the event, with Highland Avenue drawing the unofficial line towards the flowers and the reservoir.

So, yeah, it's a wonderful event, as you mentioned, for people to finally get out after a long winter.

And there's people already in the park right now.

We're still several days away, so it's very exciting for the whole community.

So is this setup time right now?

Oh yeah.

So all the balls are in the air.

If you go to Highland park right now, you can see our VIP tent.

Is that right?

It's like completely set up right now in the middle, the middle of the lawn where the keeping center stage is.

Wow.

So how long does the setup take from start to start to the start of the festival?

When does the actual build out start?

So we begin putting the tents in play probably two weeks or three weeks prior to the festival.

But planning goes on way before.

Internally, it's, I like to say almost a year round position.

And when I say almost, it's not really, it's a year round position position.

Maybe we all come up for air sometime over the summer, but we're always thinking with the team that is producing the event.

I don't think I can go one day in a row without a text.

Like this would be so cool.

Usually from Reagan.

So we're always thinking lilac.

Juan.

It's when it's this many people.

What, what's the, what's the attendance right now for the festival?

Like, do.

Do we know a rough number about how many people Went to Lilac last year.

Yeah.

So our kind of standard statistic that we've counted year after year is a half a million people coming for the 10 days of the festival.

Yeah.

And then Art in the park up on Reservoir Ave attracts a quarter of a million.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

And those aren't all the same people.

There's some people who prefer just to do art in the park and some people who are at the main festival who never make it up there.

So there's a little bit of mixing between those two.

And like you said, you know, not everybody finds themselves in the lilacs, but if you go between those two things, you have to go through the lilacs.

So it's a great passageway between.

Yeah.

So I mean, let's talk about, let's talk about what's different.

Oh, I was going to say, because the thing I've always enjoyed about the Lilac Festival, because I think my first one, I was four years old, there's a picture of me somewhere in a tree that my grandfather took.

So.

But the thing I've always enjoyed is that there's that traditional aspect to it where you kind of know what to expect.

But there's been an evolution year after year.

So I guess the question for me is, what's new this year?

Yeah, well, I mentioned our, the VIP, the VIP Sky Deck.

It's sponsored by Vision Financial Group this year that allowed us to really build the deck of our dreams.

I will say it's fully covered.

So in the past the VIP deck has been elevated, but we still were, you know, we all know in Rochester it could snow tomorrow.

We could have 85 degree weather, whatever it is.

So now we have a fully covered VIP deck.

We love that, you know, so it's going to be a party no matter what.

We also shifted it so that it gets a better view of the front of the stage and we also added back in the front of stage access.

So that in and of itself is new and improved.

Also up at Art in the park, this is not new.

This year it was new.

Last year we incorporated a small business circle and what that allowed was for small business, small businesses in Rochester who didn't fit into the profile of an artist.

For the people who normally do art in the park, it gave them a space to come to the festival event just for weekends.

Because usually in the main festival we ask people to come for all 10 days.

And I mean, we've all worked in small businesses here.

And it's just.

It's not doable for some people.

And so this just allowed them that space.

And do you want to speak to the farmer's market?

Yeah, I mean, just to piggyback before we get into new stuff.

First of all, I definitely have a picture of myself and or my children in like a random magnolia bed somewhere.

So I hear you on that.

Awesome.

Going off Reagan's point and just sort of piggybacking off of that.

Reagan brings up a good point.

The small business circle was.

And she's being modest, but Reagan created that space.

And it's not just so the festival can do better financially.

It's really to include those people that don't have the time or like small businesses.

Maybe it's somebody's side hustle and they're working full time.

So it's just all about being inclusive.

And that's one of the things that we'll talk about as, as far as like inclusivity in the event too, because you have your standard commercial businesses down below, which people love.

They love to go talk one on one.

And a lot of those vendors are local and they see a year's worth of customers in just 10 days.

But they're bigger.

Sometimes they're selling a larger service or product as opposed to the small business circle where people have that opportunity to get in at a limited time and at a lower cost.

So just wanted to piggyback off on that.

But some of the other things in the event that we're doing this year is the farmer's market.

So another thing that was brought to my attention this year by none other than Reagan were that there's a lot of things in the festival that are free.

Right.

You walk in, it's free.

You can listen to music, it's free.

We can bring in an empty bottle and fill up at our new water stations.

Those are free.

Yeah.

Finally it's happened.

One day I scratched my head and I said, let's offer a our folks the basic necessity of life.

I don't know.

But something else that's free for our attendees this year is our farmer's market.

And people love to have a little taste of something or a little sample of something and bring home a farm to table experience again.

Another way for vendors to get involved that don't want the commitment of 10 days.

They're not selling a roof, you know, they're selling a good.

A baked good or something of that nature.

And they.

That'll be on Monday and Wednesday of the event.

Just limited hours like 10 to 3.

And that will take place behind the wooden playground.

I believe they call it the adventure zone.

And so that will be new for us this year.

There's something special about.

For me about going to a market.

It's something I've.

When I'm traveling, if I'm driving through a city that I don't know or driving through a small town I don't know, and.

And I see a farmer's market going on, there's something about that that grounds you in being somewhere.

And I love the idea that, you know, hey, you are going to the festival to do something different from your day to day, but there's something special about that, too, where you're grounding, hey, this is Rochester.

This is part of.

Part of the fabric of where you are and part of what makes our area great are all these amazing producers of food, drink, vegetables, all these amazing things.

It's part of what is Rochester, but so is this.

Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more.

There's something for everybody at this event, if you want to, you know, tick back a little bit of the things that are already still there that we can always talk about within this podcast.

Like the race.

The race has been around for a long time.

It's 46 years old this year.

We have one guy that's run it all.

46.

Well, we'll see if he comes this year, knock on wood.

He's been with us from the get.

But then you have new things like the farmer's market that are giving people a fresh look at the event.

So.

Yeah, so, like, let's talk about the race for a second, since you brought it up.

So how long is the race?

So the race offers a couple of different running lengths.

Um, there's a 5K.

There's also a 10K.

If you're feeling extra spicy, you can double dip and run the 5k and the 10k back to back.

Oh, man.

Um, and then years ago, when I was working on the race, I found that we were often competing with spring runners, and a lot of those runners were just families, and they were doing, like, a fun run or a color run.

And I was like, I like donuts.

So truly, Reagan knows.

And let's do a donut dash.

And we birthed the donut dash.

And.

And we are very blessed that we've had some donut sponsors.

For the last, I don't know, seven or eight years, we've been doing the run, and this year we will be partnering up with Tim Hortons.

So it's The Timbit Trot.

And the runners are so cute.

And they start at the start line and they run to Goodman street which is about a half a mile.

They get their donuts, they shove their face at donuts.

We get some great pictures with crumbs and costumes and then they come back to the finish line and you know, it's all in good fun, but it's great because our demographic are generally parents of that age.

You know, maybe mostly women, but lots of men, you know, 30 to 55.

And they're bringing their kids and they're bringing their husbands and their strollers and now everybody has a chance to participate.

That sounds like a super fun family event.

That sounds great because there's donuts.

I mean there's that too.

You're just looking at me going, this guy wants the donuts.

There's no way he's gonna go a mile back and forth, but he wants the donuts.

He likes a Timbit.

I can tell.

It's great free entertainment too.

Like just watching it and the enjoyment on people's faces.

And they have inflatable donuts that they put around their waist and they do the run with that.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, I like that.

So like that.

The.

So is that all one day?

The run, you know, the, the race.

Correct.

The race takes place on the final day of the festival, May 18 this year.

Everything starts at 8am and goes right through to the lunch hour with a post race party at the end.

Great.

Is there a registration or anything or can people just show up?

Yeah, you can show up.

I would encourage you to register ahead of time because we increase our numbers every year.

I'm not just blowing smoke.

We had record breaking numbers already for sign up this year and the price does increase as we get a little bit closer.

But you could be like my husband and just sign up the morning of and just, you know, wing it like he does.

Now is that, is that a lack of planning or does he not know if he wants to run it?

Every year I tell him I know someone involved in this race doesn't care, he just shows up.

And that's fun too.

Like this is a sanctioned race, the 5k and the 10k.

Oh really?

So you've got some USATF runners and it's great competition to start and then you have your everyday runner down to your novice.

A lot of people are doing like a couch to 5K type of a deal.

I spoke to one woman last year and she made the little goosebumps go up on my arm.

And she said, this is my first one.

And I've been training for so long and when you have a semi pro runner running it, it's nothing.

They do a 5k in 15 minutes.

But for her, it was very moving for me to hear that she chose our race to be her first race.

Well, and I love that, that it's.

Yes, it is a registered race too.

And that's the thing, like, I'm glad you brought that up because that, you know, it requires you to do more.

It requires you to do more work, but it also shows, hey, if you sign up for this, you're signing for a race that is, hey, we're taking it seriously.

But you can also be your first or you could be, hey, I'm getting measured for something else.

What a great inclusive thing that you can get both sides of that in the same thing.

That's because you're taking it seriously and people can do both.

Sure.

I mean, I ran the race before I was.

This was involved with this festival and that was over a decade ago.

And I ran behind a gentleman who was blind and he had a guide that he was.

The wrists were tied together and I thought it was great.

It's a very difficult course and it's hilly.

And I love that he felt comfortable enough to come and run our race as a person with impaired vision.

And it was just lovely to see all forms of runners with us.

Very cool.

So race has been going on a long time.

What's another, like, tradition of the festival that, like, it would be fun to talk through?

The music is, you know, at the forefront.

So we have the Keybank center stage.

We have a music booker we've been working with for the last two years who's been booking amazing music.

I feel like he has a knack for finding, finding groups or performers that he knows once people hear them, they will not forget them.

You know, they're going to listen to that band for the next year for the rest of their life.

He's just one of those people that has an ear for the right type of music and he works closely with Jenny on booking those.

And so every year we're just so excited about the lineup and I think we have that this year as well.

Yeah.

So is there, is there like a headliner, like kind of event this year?

Yeah, so every night we have a headliner.

So we have support on weekdays.

Our kind of professional music starts at 4, 5, 30, and then the headliner comes on at 7.

We have, well, I would say we have a couple special nights this year.

So we have a Latin night on Tuesday, and that's kind of.

I think that's the first time we've done that.

Right?

Yeah, correct.

So it's great to have that focus.

We have Cruel Summer on Monday, the Taylor Swift tribute band.

And we all know how popular that is.

Oh, I'm sure that'd be massive.

Swifty.

Swifty.

Well, and I love that you brought up that you have a Latin night, too.

I mean, our Puerto Rican music scene is so vibrant here in Rochester, and the infrastructure of it's also great.

And bringing that into this and, you know, sort of, you know, bring it to.

Hey, everybody can come watch this and have a great time.

Yeah, I agree.

I think anybody will come there that night and will not be able to sit still.

Oh, yeah, everyone's going to be vibing.

Absolutely.

Yes.

So we mentioned the Taylor Swift tribute band, and then going into the other days, I mean, I know there's a lot of stuff.

Yeah.

We have on Thursday, Sean Cootie.

He just finished performing at Coachella.

Oh, nice.

A couple weeks ago.

Yep.

And who else did he perform with?

Who am I from.

Lenny Kravitz.

He opened for Lenny Kravitz.

Oh, yeah.

So just stream.

Just.

Just Lenny Kravitz.

No big deal.

Extremely talented.

And so he's gonna be there on Thursday.

Another popular one is Beach Weather, who is going to be closing out the 10 days for us on the 18th.

They're super popular.

Katie Pruitt is on the first Saturday.

We love her.

She opened for Lake Street Dive last year on their tour.

So, yeah, those are just some of our favorites.

Yeah.

We also have Chase Beckham, which is season 19American Idol winner.

He's a country music artist.

And typically, in years past, we haven't really booked so much country, but now that we're really offering a diverse lineup, everybody gets a night.

So we have some Latin, we have some hometown favorites.

We have a great female pop band coming out from Utah called the Aces.

They're on fire.

I cannot wait for people to hear them.

We have, like, I mentioned, country.

We also, you know, in addition to our Afrobeat night and our alt night, I remember texting Dave one night late.

I heard music promoter saying, I'm feeling alt.

Y.

Who could we get?

And he gave me some choices.

And I said, man, I really would love Beach Weather And Katie Pruitt.

So soulful.

She's very similar to, like, a Bonnie Raitt.

But we also.

I'd like to tip my hat over to the Sky Coasters, who are performing on Wednesday, led by Jerry Boone, who's had the band for 58 years.

Really amazing.

Say what you want about, you know, local talent.

We love our local talent.

We were able to repeat local original music this year without any repeats.

And Jerry Boone was the exception.

He started this band in high school, and the man looks ageless, so we're tipping our head to even.

Yes, we have big names coming this year, but we also have the Sky Coasters, who we know and we love, and that's a very big community effort.

People know them and love them.

So proud to have them and honored.

It's great.

It's such a great mix of the tried and true.

The.

The Sky Coasters.

Want to talk about an institution in Rochester.

Totally.

Oh, my gosh.

But it's also, I feel like one of the traditions for the Lilac Festival, one of the things that you're most known for is you tend to book everybody's next favorite band, and it's been that way my entire life.

White Stripes or Ben Queller when he was here.

So it's really exciting to see the talent that you bring in year after year.

So it's one of the things I look forward most to see when you release the music schedule.

I'm like, oh, man, we got to be there on Wednesday night or Thursday night, because this is going to be great.

Yeah, I love that mentality because it's not just cover bands anymore.

And, you know, we love our tributes.

We love our local talent.

But getting back to the roots of what you just said, and we really support that by promoting, like, if you like the Lumineers, you will love such and such artists.

And we like people to identify who their favorite type of music is.

And I think it's great for people, too, go up on our website and listen to those clips and then see it in real life.

Yeah.

We do have a Spotify playlist on our website, too.

So you can cycle through all.

All our Music for all 10 days and get a little preview.

Nice.

So how does that.

How does that process work, collaborating with, you know, somebody who's a booker?

But, you know, there's multiple different factors.

Right.

Choosing what shows up, both with, you know, hitting different demographics, obviously attracting the crowds.

How does that process work between the music booker, yourself, marketing?

How does that collaboration work when you're doing that together?

Yeah.

I have to say that I met Dave Drago through Reagan here and also another team member on our team, Lexi, and when we met, it really is chemistry.

Are you going to blend with this person, are you going to give as a producer, are you going to give them the freedom to do what their professional life is?

But also, I like to have a curating mind, body and soul.

I mean, look at my phone cover.

If you can't, you know, we are.

I've been playing cassette tapes on my ghetto blaster for my whole life, since I was 6 years old.

And I know what I love.

I'm not a performer and I am not a talent buyer, but I will say that Dave Drago is the utmost professional, and he has the Rolodex of bringing in that great new talent.

And then we just clicked as friends.

And I give him the freedom and the trust to know that he's gonna book the right bands.

There's something special about those kind of relationships, too, where you can trust them and give real feedback at the same time.

It's kind of hard to quantify, you know, how that.

How valuable that is to you.

I know.

For.

For me, having somebody to work with like Matt has been, like, changed how I do what I do.

Having somebody there to support me and give me real feedback.

And then when I need something or, hey, I have a real question.

You know, having those people to work with long term and trust, it's kind of what makes it, you know, something that.

That isn't just an event where it still has personality.

It's not just the Wildlife Festival.

It's driven by people that have made decisions that are making it what it is today.

Yeah, agreed.

I think that's.

I will very strongly say that that's a testament to the team that we have right now.

We have about 18 people on our team.

There's no one that needs to be micromanaged, and everyone brings that value to the table.

Everyone comes in with ideas, they do the research on how to execute them, and they're committed to follow them through to the end.

We have a really, really excellent team.

That's awesome.

Well, on that note, we're going to take a quick break.

So one of the things I was looking at when I was checking out the website, because I am probably typical guy in this situation, I am terrible at planning for Mother's Day.

And one of the things I am the most excited about are some of the events that I saw happening on Mother's Day this year.

Reagan, can you kind of tell me what's going on a little bit?

Yes.

I'm going to make this very easy for you.

Thank you.

I need it so bad.

We have two options.

This is the first year that we've been offering these Mother's day experiences and when we started ideating them, I'm a new mom.

I have a four year old and a one year old and I thought what would be my ideal Sunday?

Because my kids are still little, I'm not sure I could totally leave them.

I would still want to share that day with them.

So one of our packages is we're doing photo minis in the flowers.

We have a professional photographer.

It's our official festival photographer, Northglow Photography.

They're going to be doing 10 minute mini sessions with your family or whoever, you know, grandparents.

I have one guy who I think is going to propose to his fiance or to his soon to be fiance.

It's not surprise, is it?

Should we?

Spoiler no names.

So you can get a little mini photo shoot.

You're going to get your professional photos and you're also going to get a gift basket that has like a free glass of wine at the Castle Larga bar, free coffee.

We have lotto tickets with giveaways.

We have a build your own charm keychain to kind of keep the kids busy.

So that's with the family.

The other option is if you have babysitters or if your kids are old enough and you can go out and party that day.

It starts at 9am so we're doing bubbles and VIP.

That ticket includes mimosas, it includes free chair massages, it includes coffee, light breakfast.

We have a photo wall with flowers in the background and we also have an alcohol infused boozy ice cream that's being served there.

Oh, nice.

Sign me up.

I've had some really good ones of those and I've had terrible ones.

I've never had one.

I'm so excited to try it.

I've had great ones.

A place in Fairport, Moonlight Creamery does a great job with some of those.

I've had other ones from great, you know, local ice cream makers too.

If it's done well, it can be exceptional because it makes this beautiful texture because it doesn't freeze the same way.

Right.

It makes the crystals very small because the alcohol inhibits the freezing process.

You get this beautiful silky texture.

Can be just fantastic.

I'll be binging on that.

Sorry, food nerdery or alcohol.

What can't it do?

And then the other thing that's offered in there is Monroe Med Spa is going to be doing facials and lip flip Botox.

Wow on site.

All on site and all included in the price of the ticket.

Holy cow.

And you get all day access to the VIP sky deck.

Wow.

Yeah.

Either one of these is priced to be a steal, and it's perfect gift for Mother's Day.

And I kind of love, like, when you brought up that you designed it for what you would want, it kind of goes back to what we mentioned before the break is, you know, those are decisions made by a person.

Like, hey, this is what I would want to do.

It doesn't mean it's for everybody, but that kind of thing, you know, you can't make something for absolutely everybody, but you can make it so people feel like everything was done on purpose.

Yeah.

And like we've been talking about, I mean, this is a tradition.

I started coming to the Lilac Festival with my mom as I graduated college.

We kind of stumbled upon it, same thing.

And I think we may have missed a couple.

But my mom still comes up.

Even though I've been working the Lilac Festival, she still comes up, and that's still our day.

So it is very sentimental and special.

Yeah.

So, I mean, that's pretty cool.

Well, and I think you also touched on Casa Larga, and you mentioned there's some other new vendors around that, too.

What's going on around, you know, drink options and other things down that route.

Yeah.

So for the first year ever, we're going to be serving alcohol up where we call it the Children, even though there's not a children's pavilion anymore at the end of Reservoir Ave.

Hopefully there will be soon.

They're looking into building it again.

But that grassy area that kind of overlooks the reservoir, Rohrbox Brewing is going to be there.

Castle Larga Vineyards and Firefly Mobile Bar.

And so they each kind of have some special offerings.

Rohrbox did a Lilac beer that I think just launched like two days ago.

Yeah, Lilac Wheat.

Yeah, I saw it on Will Cleveland Substack.

If you're.

If you're a beer person.

Rochester.

You're not following the Cleveland Prost.

What are you doing?

It's a.

You know, I read about it there and was recently listened to.

I think it was an episode of Connections where they were talking to, you know, the people that just took over the Flower City Brew Fest from John Earlob, who is kind of, you know, the godfather of Rochester craft beer.

Yeah.

And the fact that Roebucks is participating, I mean, you can't get more Rochester than that.

Yeah.

And we Love that.

We love bringing it back local.

So Castle Argo is going to be doing, I think a lilac wine cocktail.

And Firefly Mobile bar has a lilac lemonade vodka drink.

So everybody's got their themed drinks.

That should be great.

Yep.

As Reagan mentioned, it's.

It's really on the overlook.

So it's.

It's great scenery, it's super casual.

People are me coming right off the art show into that small business circle area.

It's kind of like in that space and it's a great place to kick back and.

And we.

We haven't seen Casa Larga with us in a few years, so it's great to have them back.

Warbox will be a first for us and getting chills just thinking about them and, and that relationship that we've built with them and our new friends at Firefly, which I think it's their second year with us and everybody's got a little bit something different, so it's great.

We should also mention, like, now that you talk about Casa Erga coming back, our poster is going to be on their wine label again and it's kind of like a slight variation of the printed poster.

It looks amazing.

So keep an eye out for that.

Can't wait to see it.

Yes.

Do you guys do a.

You do a fresh poster every year.

How does that process go with finding an artist to do that?

As the same person?

Do you rotate through?

How do you pick who does the poster every year?

That's a great question.

For the previous promoters, I know they had a lot of connections in the community.

When I took over the event last year, I specifically reached out to an artist that I truly admire.

Her name's Alison Cote.

She's a young gal who's done a ton of work.

She did the Jonas Brothers album cover and just has a very cool retro style.

I had asked her to put together something that had a lot of remembrance and fond memories.

And so the poster last year, if you can think back and remember it, it had like, kids running through the park with cotton candy.

It had, you know, a female singer and had whole lots of, like, scenes all within the poster with some really bright and beautiful colors.

And her parents were also artists as well, and it was an honor to have her do the poster last year.

And then this year, somebody had reached out to me very early and had asked to send along a draft.

So there's no shortage of artists that want to be a part of it.

It's.

If it's again, that perfect balance of what are we looking for.

Is there a theme?

What's your style?

Are you willing to go back and forth a little bit?

And this person that is part of the event this year has a lot of background, not only in just being an artist, but, like, graphic design and that type of thing.

So when we reveal the poster this year, it's just.

It's gonna be a very exciting moment.

Well, I'm super looking forward to that.

Your posters are always amazing, so I'm sure this year is no exception.

I'm excited to see it.

So you did mention the word theme.

Now, I don't like.

Is there.

There's an official theme for each year, Is there.

There's not, like, a published theme.

No.

I mean, the poster might reflect one, but there's not.

Yeah.

There's not, like, a changing theme for.

The Lilac Festival, is there kind of like, each year you have an idea of how you're trying to progress, where you almost have, like, an internal direction, or is it just like, hey, we're just trying to get better every time?

I think it's a good combination of both.

You know, when I worked the festival prior, I spent nine years, you know, helping to organize for a different promoter.

And the festival grew exponentially in those nine years, naturally, and through, you know, ideas of rotating team members.

And when I had the honor of being able to lead it as my own, it wasn't really just about my ideas.

I was more like the foundation and had everybody else on the team sort of bring the ideas to the table.

But one thing that's a study is just keeping it inclusive for everybody, keeping it a community effort.

Shopping local.

We have some people out of town, but very few.

And those people have been with us 25 years.

So, you know, keeping that mission statement, I guess, if you want to say, and just building the event around, having that mission statement is something that I strive to do.

Yeah.

And you mentioned shopping local, something Matt and I were talking about before, because we have a lot of friends who are very active in the local art scene at, you know, shows and everything else is, you know, the artist area up in the.

Up in that same area we were talking about, the Overlook there.

Yeah.

So talk about.

So when does that run during the festival?

And, you know, how does that selection process work of who, you know, who's applying?

How do we decide who gets in?

Yeah.

So our art in the park is the same hours as the small business circle.

That's each weekend.

So each Saturday and Sunday, it opens at 10am On Saturdays, it goes till 6.

And on Sundays, it'll go till 5.

We start accepting artist applications before the new year, and we accept them for about six weeks.

And then we do a blind jury.

So we take all the names off the artwork, we just take the images, and then we jury the categories.

So it could be food items, painting, illustration, metalwork, etc.

I think in the past, they tried to have a lot of the same artists each weekend.

For me personally, when I took that over, that was a goal of mine is to vary the artist up.

We still have some repeats, but it's really about giving those new upand cominging artists a chance where they couldn't find a spot in that space before.

And also as a consumer, as a visitor, having a different unique experience each weekend that you come.

Yeah, you want.

I mean, also, like, they're great days.

You want to go out a couple times and have a different experience, not just with the music like we were talking about earlier.

But yeah, you can see, I mean, the selection of available Rochester artists who do shows is crazy.

I mean, we're close friends with a lot of them.

So many, so many talented artists in Rochester.

So it's always fun to go out and see who's at the show, see what everybody's selling.

I know I have some friends that have been in the festival a couple of different times, and they, from a vendor perspective, they love it.

They have a great time.

So it's really something to look forward to.

And you mentioned that a quarter million people go through that area over the course of the two weekends.

Like, that's.

That's a staggering amount of people for any, for any artist to just, just get seen by that many people.

And we're not a huge fan of like, exposure as like the reward, but that's a huge amount of people.

Yes, it is.

And besides those quarter of a million people, our staff love shopping there as well.

I mean, we'll all go up there and come back and say, hundreds of dollars.

My whole paycheck is gone.

I went up there last year, Reagan.

I had 10 seconds to myself, and within the first half an hour, I spent couple hundred bucks.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I was like, this is not.

This is going very well for them and not very well for me.

It's.

I've worked on other festivals and like, there are vendors that show up and they don't even get a chance to put their stuff out by the time all the staff has gone in.

And you know, we'll take one of those.

One of those.

So they're.

They've got these little piles of things.

Yes.

We have our favorite jam people and pickle.

Don't forget the peanut butter balls.

Oh, the peanut butter.

Come on.

That's my weakness.

I know.

And you have to, like, put limits, especially when you see these people both weekends and like only one peanut butter ball a day.

I know.

And the guy tried to sell me on like a four pack.

I said, you don't have to sell me.

I'll take two packs.

There's no.

You don't have to explain.

Here's the thing.

I can justify it for you.

I'm sure you're moving constantly.

That's good quick energy.

Oh, yeah, it's protein.

Yeah, it's protein.

I mean, there's nothing wrong with it.

Then she booked, Reagan booked a sausage guy with the cheese in it.

Oh, yeah.

I think he's called the Cheese Filled Company.

I mean, it's very self explanatory.

Yeah, that'll do.

Yeah.

I like somebody that picks a business.

They just.

The name is right there.

It's great.

There's no ambiguity.

We're not stretching.

I bought this, I think this was five minutes before we closed on the very last weekend.

I bought the cutest fleece poncho for my daughter.

And she's a, she's a toddler, so like, she can't like put.

I mean, it looks silly when you put like a jacket with sleeves on a baby.

So it was like, it was kind of a car seat cover.

I took it to India with us this year.

She, like traveled everywhere with it, everywhere we went.

She got the best compliments on it.

It's the most adorable.

One of a kind.

Yeah.

That's so cool.

Yeah.

And I, I know, as you know, my wife does, you know, different conventions and has done a lot of art shows, you know, having people that care about the vendors and especially with the varying weather conditions and other things, having people that know how to run an art show is so important because, you know, the artists are also depending on you as the curator to make sure that they have the best experience they can have.

You know, obviously the variability.

Have you figured out how to control the weather yet for the festival?

It's going to be sunny 75 all 10 days.

I'm glad we figured last week you.

Heard it here first, people.

That was our first bribe.

Yeah, but I think that's, that's the thing is know the vendors especially a lot of them are small businesses.

Some of are doing it full time.

Having people that care about them, that are paying attention to what they need all the vendors around the whole thing.

That attention to detail matters so much to them because this is a big deal for them.

It's a big deal for you, but it's also a huge deal for them to feel like they're being taken care of and that they're able to take care, to take advantage of the opportunity.

Yeah, I mean we, we could do this with our eyes closed.

I feel like I will say this is one of the first years in a long time where we've actually sold out of vendor spaces in the regular part of the festival as well.

Oh, awesome.

We have so many sponsors this year.

We have so many vendors and to your point, it's a turnkey.

They rely on us to know that we can help with load in and communication and that there's arms and legs there to help them and parking passes and all of those things that the general public doesn't see.

Yeah.

And it shows when you have a sold out, you know, festival with so many vendors, I mean pretty probably 50 vendors and so many sponsors, lots of in kind sponsors which we love just as much because it's a free event.

So we can take any sort of partnership, help support the event.

Every bit helps for sure.

Correct.

Yeah.

And I, the reason I bring it up is because like I've been to plenty of ones that feel like they were just slapped together at the last minute.

They weren't really thinking about that part of it.

And for a lot of people, like you mentioned, you know, they're going there just to, they're going there just for the art part.

They're going there just for the small businesses or for the businesses in the other area or the crazy selection of food that's going on at the festival, which I want to pivot to that for a second because that is for a lot of people.

They're going for those foods they only get a couple times a year.

But they're also going to get just really good local foods at the same time.

How does that selection process go?

Because again, this is a huge, huge festival for a lot of these food vendors.

Oh yeah.

So we have had so many vendors come back with us that have been with us for a long time.

So they're great.

People can still come in.

And my favorite is just simple sausage and peppers.

But you can also get gluten free options.

You can get vegan options, you can get vegetarian options.

We have everything from a kebab to a craft pizza to hot dogs and everything in between specialty drinks.

There's too Many to even list.

There's just so many.

We have wine slushies.

Yeah, that's the drinking.

That's drinking is a whole other topic.

Well, yeah, because we brought up the cocktails and then I think we were talking before.

They also have options for people who don't want to drink alcohol too.

Exactly.

So in addition to the food, which is 40 plus vendors, we have, I think nine bars down below.

And one of those bars is the brand new zero proof Social Club, which is our non alcoholic bar.

And working with brands in my past, bigger brands like Diageo and others, there's some real craft drinks out there.

But at the same time you don't have to just drink a Pepsi or lemonade to have it if you're not drinking or for whatever reason.

And so we decided to honor one of our employees who really just loves a non alcoholic drink.

And he had this great idea to do a non alk bar.

And we outfitted it like super cute.

And we have sponsors for it immediately.

Right away we had good supporters like geese and wine with four varietals available in there.

We will be making a mixed drink with red jacket juice which is local and a non alk spirit.

Nice.

So this will be sandwiched right in with the Bully Hill Wine Grove and our own craft bar.

And it's just a great social area.

We're not banishing those people to go find a drink on the other side of the park.

It's right in with everybody else.

And we're super excited to debut it this year and we're getting a lot of positive feedback.

Yeah.

And that's something we talk about a lot too is when, you know, when, hey, you have a different, you want na or you need different accommodations.

Something we've talked about a lot is, you know, being inclusive of everybody.

Right.

And having those, you know, having that space for them.

But seems like you have spaces for lots of different people that have different needs.

And in a festival that has so many people around and so many, you know, so many noises and everything else.

Seems we were talking during the break about that you've actually made spaces for people to maybe get away from that a little bit too.

That's right.

We partnered up with autism up and the hold on the New York State Office for people with Developmental Disabilities.

We have a great sensory space area within the festival.

I wouldn't say any area of the festival is quiet, but we did Find the quietest nook and have a great space for them.

There's a 20, 20 by 20 or very large tent space that has dim lighting and great, you know, special seating and some great, you know, activities in there for families that need to just step away and use that space.

It's wonderful.

This is our second year doing it.

I brought it to the event last year after experiencing it somewhere else.

It's not the brainchild of me saying, hey, I thought of this all by myself.

It's, wow.

I'm at a different event where it's loud, it's noisy, it's bright.

And I feel bad because I have two other children here.

And it hits home.

I don't have a child with a disability in my house, but I feel that as a mother and as a person, it's just wonderful that we can offer that.

And there's great activities for them there.

And it's free, of course, and it's gonna live there until I'm gone.

So I'm excited to have it.

And then another thing I wanted to touch on too, is that our headliners, as Regan was mentioning, we have headliner every night, they're all ASL interpreted.

And it's great because we talk about the noising and all of the crazy, but also our community is the biggest hard of hearing community in all the us.

And I'm not sure if people realize that, but they can feel the music and to have it interpreted each night is very special thing for them.

Well, and I know, like, Matt, you have, like, your family has roots with RIT too, and that's like kind of the hub of that in many ways, huge community.

So it's great to hear that that's represented there.

And yeah, it's a huge part of the music scene too.

And I really love that you're bringing that in.

That's phenomenal.

Our interpreters have their own fan club at this point.

They do, yeah.

Like, wow, look at that crowd in front of the stage.

Oh, they're not even for the band, they're for the interpreters.

Oh, yeah.

They draw.

They draw.

And it's not just hard of hearing, you know, it's hearing people too.

That that's their favorite part.

Oh, yeah.

Well, they're bringing those.

They're bringing the vibes, right?

Absolutely.

If you can't Hear the lyrics, they're.

You have to bring that emotion to you.

Oh, they bring that.

A mean air guitar.

I've seen play by mean air guitar.

Oh yeah.

I've not seen an air guitar version.

I've seen them at like, you know, I've seen the comedy shows where they're acting out bits and sometimes the comedians talking to them.

But that whole music thing, like bringing that whole character, that's pretty cool.

It's an incredible talent.

It's really something to watch.

Just in and of itself, it's.

It's something.

And I think sometimes we see them up there performing and we think it's almost like there's no effort behind it.

They make it look effortless.

But having, being backstage with them, we see them studying the lyrics of that night's music.

I mean, they put in the work to make sure that they can get up there and perform as best as possible.

Correct.

And even though we love our headlining bands and we respect them, when I, I don't ask a band, I tell the band, this is the service that we offer and you better, you know, talk with them.

And they're very well received.

And there was a few moments where some of our big musicians, I think the lead singer from the Wood Brothers went right up and did a whole exchange with one of our interpreters.

And they're very well received and it's just non negotiable.

We have to have these services for the sensory space or the ASL or anything, you know, even free things for the kids.

We have a sprout stage this year that's free kids entertainment.

We have to have those things because if it's free to come in, then you should be able to enjoy it, you know, without opening your wallet all the time.

And even if you are opening your wallet, you're supporting local food vendors or a local brewery or something of that nature.

So as we're getting towards, you know, we can't cover everything that the Yhwac Festival has to offer.

Let's get the plugs in for all the dates and where can people go to see, you know, all the other events that are going on if they want to buy tickets and other things.

Yeah, our website is rocklililacfest.com that is going to have the most up to date information.

But our socials also mimic all of that information and break it down into certain categories.

So we're on Instagram and Facebook on the days of the festival.

We also do live coverage and live posting every single day.

So, you know, if you want to see what there is to expect or take to get a game plan in place, either of those resources are going to have the information.

The days are May 9th through 18th, and so on that first weekend, Sunday will be Mother's Day.

We have the parade on Saturday, the day before.

And we also have walking tours every day 10 to 5.

But then again, in the spirit of accessibility, those are going to be available.

If you can't catch like a guided walking tour, which we have signups for that on our website.

You can also do a self guided tour where you can download the audio files off of our website and you can do it anytime over the next year.

And in Spanish.

And in Spanish.

Very cool.

That's phenomenal.

So I kind of want to end off with your personal favorite thing.

Like, seems like both of you have been involved and been around the wildlife festival for a while.

What is your personal favorite thing to do when you have that extra second, you know, while you're there every year?

Tacos.

I think it's tacos.

Nice.

Hey.

Nothing.

Tornachos.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Our music director, Dave and I did a little tour de nachos last year.

So we got some ninos, we got some El Capitan.

We had some ceviche.

And then of course, that branched out into other food groups.

And then we had a food theme every day.

Okay.

We did like carnival favorites.

We did burgers and hot dogs.

Handhelds, you know, fork foods.

We broke down all the categories.

Somebody after my own heart.

I love a deep nerdery dive.

I also love that you had enough in each category to make it a full day.

Oh, yeah, it was narrowing it down.

This is just handheld day.

This is it.

Yeah.

That's incredible.

Yeah, we're like, we.

Sorry.

We have a project we need to go work on.

We'll be gone for five hours.

Has anyone seen Reagan?

This is an important project.

Pay attention.

And then she comes back with a stain on her shirt, and I know where she's been.

It's nacho day.

Jenny.

What are you gonna do?

What are you gonna do?

I wonder why I wasn't invited.

Nachos are only for two people, tops.

No matter the size.

No matter the size, yes.

If it's a guy Fieri trash can nacho.

Two people.

I would say.

And this is definitely cheesy to the utmost, but I'll take it.

All of us on the team have been with the event for a long time, and I think with the whirlwind of all of the things.

I'm generally a pretty calm person, and people say that to me all the time.

You're so.

There's a firestorm going all around you.

Like, why you're so.

You're just cool and calm.

And I sort of take that as like a reflection.

I'll go up in the bucket, like a bucket lift.

And on a very busy day, after we know we've had a very safe and successful day, and I'll just look at everybody dancing in the crowd, eating a turkey leg, some kid crying because something whatever and spilled his fries, and I just sort of, like, get the chills and a little bit reflect that we did this.

It's not a me effort.

It's not I did this.

It's.

We did this.

We did this.

Today we brought these memories that we just talked about for the last hour to all these families, and I'm just super proud.

I don't, like, get emotional or, like, cry or anything, but I definitely have a moment during the event where I'm just sort of seeing everything from the outside, and I love it.

Yeah.

Having that moment to reflect on the work that goes into creating one of the signature Rochester events every year, like you said, never stops.

It's a year round thing, and people experience it for 10 days.

And knowing that that work got people to enjoy something that deeply and truly.

Yeah, that's a thing to celebrate for.

Sure.

I'll just echo off of that.

When I was developing the walking tours this year, we did a lot of research into Frederick Law Olmsted.

Something that's very important about his creation of park systems was that they were accessible to all people from all demographics, all socioeconomic status.

And I really feel like the Lilac Festival echoes that still, you know, more than a hundred years later.

And I think that all comes full circle.

Yeah.

The theme or the mission statement that we talked about already.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Thank you for preserving that for over 100 years and keeping that part of the fabric of Rochester, the tradition that'll live on forever.

It's an important work that you do, and thank you for doing it.

Thanks for.

We'll take credit for the last 127 years.

That's right.

I will give you a whole 127 years.

Well, thank you so much for coming over and the website.

One more time, Reagan, so people can go check it out.

Roc.

Lilac Fest.com.

Well, thanks for coming over.

We'll see everybody out at the Lilac Festival coming up.

Very soon.

And we'll be back next time with more.

Just can't not.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore Podcast Network.

No edits ever.

Except for the edits I do.

Don't worry about those.

We're not going to talk about them.