Lilac Festival on Mackinac Island
The first Lilac Festival was held on Michigan’s Mackinac Island in 1949. What began as a one-day event featuring a horse-drawn parade to see the lilacs around the island has blossomed into a 10-day festival. This year’s dates are June 11-20, 2010.
Most of the island’s “old lilacs” are Syringa vulgaris, the “common lilac”, but white lilacs (Syringa vulgaris var. alba) are also common in the landscape. (The whites grow taller than the purple, but the purple have wider trunks.)
In addition to seeing (and smelling) the lilacs, visitors also can have afternoon tea in the Grand Hotel, wander the art fair, enjoy all sorts of entertainment, peruse the offerings at a book sale, and more, with the Grand Parade stepping off at 5 p.m. June 20, 2010. The complete schedule is online.
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