Lilac Festival (Mackinac Island)
Encyclopedia
The Lilac Festival is a ten-day annual festival held in honor of the common lilac at Mackinac Island
in the U.S. state of Michigan. The festival, which has been held since 1949, begins on the second Friday of June and concludes, on the third Sunday of June, with the horse-drawn Lilac Parade.
makes it a healthy location for the common lilac to grow to a larger size and longer life than in most gardens of the United States. Some Mackinac Island lilac trees are original Victorian plantings, dated at more than 150 years old.
As no private motor vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island, the floats of the Lilac Parade are all drawn by draft horse
s such as Clydesdales and Percheron
s. The festival procession is one of the few remaining horse-drawn parades in the United States.
The festival was founded by the year-round residents of Mackinac Island, especially Bill Chambers, Evangeline "Ling" Horn, and Stella King. The festival has been recognized as a "Local Legacy" event by the American Folklife Center
of the Library of Congress
.
Mackinac Island
Mackinac Island is an island and resort area covering in land area, part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was home to a Native American settlement before European...
in the U.S. state of Michigan. The festival, which has been held since 1949, begins on the second Friday of June and concludes, on the third Sunday of June, with the horse-drawn Lilac Parade.
History
Americans began widespread planting of the common lilac during the Victorian Age, and Mackinac Islanders soon found that the island's microclimateMicroclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
makes it a healthy location for the common lilac to grow to a larger size and longer life than in most gardens of the United States. Some Mackinac Island lilac trees are original Victorian plantings, dated at more than 150 years old.
Today
The festival is timed to try to coincide with the week that Mackinac Island lilacs are in bloom, and bunches of white and purple lilac flowerets are used by organizers as the visual symbol of the festival.As no private motor vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island, the floats of the Lilac Parade are all drawn by draft horse
Draft horse
A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...
s such as Clydesdales and Percheron
Percheron
The Percheron is a breed of draft horse that originated in the Perche valley in northern France. Percherons are usually gray or black in color. They are well-muscled, and known for their intelligence and willingness to work. Although their exact origins are unknown, the ancestors of the breed were...
s. The festival procession is one of the few remaining horse-drawn parades in the United States.
The festival was founded by the year-round residents of Mackinac Island, especially Bill Chambers, Evangeline "Ling" Horn, and Stella King. The festival has been recognized as a "Local Legacy" event by the American Folklife Center
American Folklife Center
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC was created by Congress in 1976 "to preserve and present American Folklife" . The center includes the Archive of Folk Culture, established at the Library in 1928 as a repository for American folk music...
of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.