Peak bloom for Rochester lilacs is expected next week, the Monroe County Parks Department said.

Corrie Ruiz has been coming here for as long as she can remember, a tradition that continues now with her daughter Analicia.

"We’re from Rochester; we’ve been here our whole life. This park is one of the places where you see everybody is friendly," Ruiz says. "It's a beautiful place to come. We have pictures upon pictures of her when she was small until now."

She absolutely adores the lilacs.

"It’s a huge part of me. My favorite color is purple; lilacs are one of my favorite scents," Ruiz says.

So of course she was disappointed when the Lilac Festival was canceled this year.

"We come here and take pictures pretty much every year," Ruiz says. "We love the festival itself, we never miss it. Good or bad weather we’re here."

The same is true for John McGrane and Donna DeFord, who volunteer with the festival every year.

"We don’t get many vacations, so we kind of do staycations in the summer where we more or less hit every free concert - the Jazz Festival, Lilac Festival, all" that kind of stuff," McGrane says.

The good news is despite a recent freeze, Mark Quinn with the Monroe County Parks Department expects a majority of the lilacs to begin blooming next week.

"Anytime you come to this park, you can always find something in bloom and there’s always something beautiful," Quinn says. "A week from now, the lilacs will be peaking and then we’ll really see it at its best."

He still encourages people to come out and enjoy the flowers, but to do so with social distancing in mind.

"We want people to enjoy the park. We want people to behave in a safe and responsible manner and not congregate in large groups," Quinn says. "It really is large enough area that you can be apart from people."

Festival or no festival, Ruiz says she still plans on enjoying the park.

"We’re going to have to be more cautious, and not be as close to people as we typically would," Ruiz says. "But that’s OK, the flowers are still here, the trees are still here."

After all, Highland Park is more than a family photo op. It’s where she and her husband got married 10 years ago this summer.