Interactive science demonstrations that explore light, color, and optics - fun for all ages! Take a look at the beautiful cell structure of a lilac flower under a microscope, investigate how your eyes perceive color, learn about thermal imaging aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, and more!

Click the image above to view the event poster!

The Lilac Festival features live music, arts and crafts, food, and family-friendly activities alongside hundreds of varieties of lilacs in full bloom. It attracts over 500,000 people to Rochester’s Highland Park each May and coincides with the UNESCO International Day of Light on May 16.

For more background and examples of our activities, you can read about the previous outreach event at the 2019 Lilac Festival and a paper on the use of colorimetry demos from the 2019 Education and Training in Optics and Photonics (ETOP) conference.

Organized by the UR SPIE and Optica Student Chapters at The Institute of Optics and generously supported by Optimax Systems, Inc., SPIE, and the Optica Foundation.