Downtown ROCs

We present to you our September update, highlighting what we've been doing to help clean, beautify and activate downtown Rochester.

BTW, we publish this update to our blog every month, so feel free to check out some of the older editions too!

And please consider sharing this post with anyone else you know who's passionate about downtown 😉

Downtown ROCs September 2026 Update What we were up to this September in Downtown Rochester

It's really amazing to see these planters on St. Paul still flourishing into OCTOBER! We've been waiting to swap them out with mums, but they just. won't. quit. 🤷🏼‍♂️

This past Saturday we commissioned 21 different acts to perform throughout the streets of downtown Rochester. We called the event "ROC'ing the Streets" and that's exactly what they did!

The goal was to bring the center city to life with a vibrant mix of sights and sounds on the final day of the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, and to support local artists with a unique opportunity to perform in the public realm.

Our mission is to clean, beautify and ACTIVATE downtown Rochester, and we hope this unique event not only enhanced the Fringe experience for hundreds of festival-goers, but also demonstrated the power of public performance art to enliven and energize the streetscape.

We're thrilled to be participating in this year's ESL Rochester Fringe Festival with our first-ever "𝗥𝗢𝗖'𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀" music crawl.

𝗪𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗬𝗢𝗨 to follow this map and enjoy many of the 24 musicians and performers who will be activating the downtown sidewalks between 4:00-8:00pm this Saturday (the final day of Fringe).

It's our way of supporting the arts community while furthering our mission to clean, beautify and ACTIVATE downtown Rochester.

Special thanks to RocGrowth and The Local Sound Collaborative for helping curate artists, and to the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts for providing funding.

Home Downtown ROCs | A 501(c)(3) non-profit creating economic opportunities for youth through programs that add beauty and energy to Downtown Rochester.

State Street is looking a bit more stately! We've planted hydrangeas in 8 large planters, wrapping them with 44 mums for seasonal color. An additional 4 extra-large planters were refreshed and consolidated to feature pollinator-friendly native perennials such as salvia, sedum and purple coneflowers.

The hydrangeas will come back twice as big next year to serve as the foundation for additional Spring and Summer plantings!

Back at it!

Today we began a project to transform State Street, clearing and planting several of the elegant planters that run from the Four Corners all the way to the 490 onramp.

We're taking a new approach with this project by investing in the placement of a prominent perennial as the centerpiece of each planter. Specifically, we're planting bobo hydrangeas, which are hardy, resilient, and fast-growing. They will form a beautiful foundation for each planter that can be landscaped around year after year.

This is a multi-day effort, but the first 6 planters are looking great, with more to come throughout the weekend. Special thanks to the City of Rochester, NY's Neighbors in Action (NIA) program and the City staff members who helped out this afternoon 🙏

Should we give these planters on State Street the Downtown ROCs treatment today?

This morning we placed three new planters on Main Street, completing a wrap-around of the historic 1920 building at the corner of Main and Franklin, and bringing our season total to 75 planters throughout downtown Rochester.

These mums may not be in bloom yet, but wait until next week!