The Lilac Festival, timed to coincide with the blooming of the lilac bushes in Highland Park in early May, is the largest and longest of the festivals, running for ten days and attracting nearly half a million visitors each year. Here people come together to drink beer, listen to pop music, and consume outrageous foods, like fried dough with powdered sugar and enormous deep-fried "blooming onions," that they would be reluctant to eat under any other...