Lilac Sunday in May

About Lilac Sunday

Date When Celebrated: Lilac Sunday is always the second Sunday in May.

It is one of the best days of the year. It celebrates the beautiful and aromatic lilac flower. With a little help from Mother Nature, the timing will be right, and the lilacs in your area will be in full and fragrant bloom on this Sunday, and the days surrounding it. Our beloved Lilacs have a long and storied history. We have been celebrating Lilacs with festivals and events for over 100 years. This holiday was first celebrated with a festival in 1905 at Highland Park in Rochester. NY. Highland Park has celebrated Lilac Sunday with a festival ever since. It is home to the largest collection of Lilacs in the world. In 1908 25,000 people attended the festival each year. Today, the 10-day event draws over 500,000 people!

The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University in Boston, Ma. has celebrated Lilac Sunday annually for almost as long as the Rochester event. They began in 1908. Several other cities hold annual Lilac festivals, although some are not held on this date. See lilac festivals.

How to Celebrate Lilac Sunday

Attend a lilac festival

Stroll through a park with Lilacs in bloom.

Read a Walt Whitman poem about Lilacs

Buy and plant Lilacs in your yard

Put a fresh bouquet of Lilacs in your home or apartment.

Did You Know? Lilacs are edible. Please pass the Lilac salad!

Setting the Record Straight

The date of Lilac Sunday is established months to a year in advance, to ideally coincide when the flowers are in full bloom. Mother nature has not always obliged. Lilac Sunday used to be the third Sunday of May. Over several decades, spring has come earlier and earlier, the effects of global warming perhaps? Now it is the second Sunday of the month.