Rochester Local Customs

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The annual "Party in the Park" festival returns to Rochester for the city's 175th anniversary. The venue has been moved to a larger, more accessible location at Exchange and Court, right across from the BCBS Arena. It is tauted as "the most exciting summer festival in Rochester" and hosts generally between 30000 and 40000 people.
For eight consecutive Thursday in June, July and August, professional musicians will entertain the crowds for 5 hours (starts about 5pm). The bands are national (Average White Band) and local (Buddhahood) favorites and each nite has two bands performing.

Besides the bands, there are food tents (local favorite is Zweigles) and street vendors hawking their wares. Local TV stations regularly send in camera crews to get highlights of the musicians and the crowd reactions.

See the website below for information on which bands play on which evenings and also to find a contact telephone number for information on parking.
And best of all it is free.

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The two-day, annual Rose Celebration in Maplewood area begins June 20th this year (2009).
The main venue is Maplewood Park at Driving Park and Lake Avenue. Besides the tents holding commercial garden vendors and local experts, there will be gardening demonstrations given during the event that are appropriate for green-thumbs of all ages and expertise. Special tours will be conducted through home-gardens in the nearby neighborhood; Genesee River gorge tours are also available. There will be a plant swap on each day where you can trade one of your favorite plants for one of theirs if you donate one to the gardens.
During the day, there will be entertainment and activities for the children

A special kick-off party is scheduled for 7-10pm at the bridge entrance of the park on June 19th. There will be entertainment, food and fireworks.

The only costs are $12 for the tours and the cost of the donated plant if you decide to enter the swap.

Get there early to find a good parking spot near the park or be prepared to drive around a little while searching for an available opening.

to get there:
Take Lake Avenue or Driving Park Blvd to their intersection at the park along the Genesee River.

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the current slogan for Rochester is "Made For Living".

Rochesterians refer to a carbonated non-alcoholic beverage as a "POP"; a beef filled hotdog is a "RED HOT" (red color) and a pork filled hotdog is a "WHITE HOT" (white color). A "PARTY HOUSE" is where you have a wedding reception or holiday banquet.

CHILI is pronounced "Chye Lye" (to rhyme with why lye) with accent on first syllable.
CHARLOTTE is pronounced "Shar Lot" with accent on second syllable.
RIGA is pronounced "Rye Gah", accent on first syllable.
BERGEN is pronounced "Burr Jen", accent on first syllable.

Both the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Sherriffs service the Rochester area. Motto of the Police Department is: "serving with pride"

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This event (Savor Rochester) is a fund raiser that is held annually to raise money for the FoodLink (local hunger relief organization).

The venue is the Public Market where over 100 of Rochester's food providers (restaurants, food markets, wineries, specialty food stores, health-food producers, and local farmers bring samples of the products for you to taste.
It is held on a weekend in mid-Septmeber each year (call the number below of this years times and dates). Tickets cost $45 per person and are available at Wegman's Food Stores or by calling the number below.

Food is served buffet style and you can pick and choose whatever hits your fancy. There is live music to fill in the quiet between streams of conversation.

The event takes place from 2pm to 9pm in the pavilion at thePublic Market and goes on regardless of weather conditions.

to get there:
Public Market
take I-490 to the inner loop on the east side of the city (heading north) and get off the inner loop at the North Union Street exit. take North Union several blocks north to Trinidad Street and jog east on Trinidad to Public Market entrance road.

Clarissa Street is part of the Corn Hill area in the Third Ward of Rochester; it is named after the daughter of an early area investor John Greig.

The 3rd Saturday in August is an area celebration from dusk to dawn. Former residents, current residents and visitors are all welcome to participate in the free event. (Cash and food-stuff donations are greatly accepted to help support the Food Link charity).
The theme is African American with several bands playing simultaneously on stages along the side streets. Arts and craft tents are set up and food/drink vendors have stands or portable carts to sell their wares. There is a parade from Glascow Street to Troup Street and anyone is welcome to come in ethnic costume and join in.
Kids can do sidewalk chalking or have their face painted with temporary tatoos or join in the childrens' play that is setup in one of the store fronts.

Come and join the festivities. Listen to the jazz and blues and drum beats while you chew on some ribs

This is the premiere musical event of the area. Every year, around the 3rd weekend in July, Rochester hosts some of the big names in entertainment for two days of continuous music.
Live entertainment begins at 2pm (gates open at noon) and lasts until 10pm.

The stages are setup in Frontier Field Stadium. If you get there very very early and bring your own seat, you can get a stage-side view, otherwise you will be in the stadium seats. You can bring umbrellas for shade against the summer heat but food and water can not be brought in. Food and beverages can be purchased from vendors inside the stadium.

Tickets are available at www.tickets.com and they cost $40 per day or $75 for two-day pass.

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This is probably the largest single event that happens in Rochester every year (compares to the Lilac Festival and the LPGA Tournament).

Annually, the weekend following the 4th of July weekend is the Corn Hill Fest (named after the locale where it is held). Five hundred artisans from around the country will exhibit their crafts and sell their wares to over 250,000 people who flock to this event. From pottery to paintings, woodworking to sculptures, textiles to jewelry; food vendors and musical entertainment as well; this festival has it all. Mimes along the street and clowns amongst the tents, street musicians and bands on stage with huge speakers; it is a great time for all.

Parking near the Corn Hill neighborhood is almost impossible so the sponsors have set up a free shuttle bus service to the event from parking areas quite far from the venue.
The shuttle service will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday July 14th and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday July 15th. The final shuttle bus run each day will depart from the Corn Hill Art Festival shuttle stop at S. Plymouth Ave. and Troup St.
The shuttle stops near parking areas are at the following locations:
1. Bausch and Lomb Place Circle (East side of Court Street Garage.) Use elevators on East side of building to 1st level. Stop will be adjacent to exit Please use this shuttle stop if wheelchair access or special assistance boarding the bus is needed.
2. South Clinton Avenue and Woodbury Blvd
3. Broad Street and South Avenue
4. Broad Street and Fitzhugh Street
5. South Plymouth Avenue and Main Street

Browsing and walking and listening are all free. You only pay for whatever artwork you buy or food stuff you consume.

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The third weekend in July or September in Rochester marks the date for the Art Walk. University Avenue from the Memorial Art Gallery to the Eastman House is cordoned off for a street-of-art.

From noon to 4pm, this area is swinging with live entertainment, tents of artwork, raffles (tickets at the Art Gallery), food/beverage vendors, balloons for the kids and lots of people milling around. A short parade starts off the event and there are fire trucks to inspect. There are art works to buy from $25 to hundreds of dollars. The kids can have fun adding their own images to the collage. Artists take every day items and decorate them as art work on the streets for the event.

Parking for the event is in the Art Gallery and along the side streets, so get there early or be prepared to park away from the event.
Profits go to the Granger Homestead.