The spring and summer always brings a little something for everyone. For almost 18 weeks, the Greater Rochester Area will host festival after festival. If you're bored over the next few months, that's on you.
Rochesterians will have every reason to get out into the sun, from celebrating Highland Park in bloom (the Lilac Festival) and the Erie Canal (Low Bridge, High Water; Fairport and Spencerport Canal Days) to supporting local artists on Park Avenue or at the Clothesline Arts Festival. There are the big, downtown festivals — the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in June and the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival in September — and one-day, community festivals like the 19th Ward Square Fair on June 3 and the Joseph Avenue Festival on July 29.
Inside this Festival Preview Guide, CITY rounds-up the dates and details of all of those festivals, which we hope will be useful in planning your summer. Also in this year's guide, you'll find a story by film critic Adam Lubitow on how a new Rochester film festival came together. And music writer Frank De Blase tries to answer a question on many Rochesterian minds: what the f*** is up with Rusted Root?
As the festival season gets going, CITY will be adding updated information and added festivals to this guide.