This year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. is in full bloom! Not is this coming weekend smack in the middle of the exciting activities offered, but the blossoms hit full bloom this week as well.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a two week festival celebrating the 1912 gift of friendship from Japan. If you have not been to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, then you may wonder why there is such big deal of commemorating a gift. Can I truly give you the reason on why it is a big deal? No. I can give you the history of it, but the reality is that if you want to read that it is already written up on sites like the National Park Service’s website for the Cherry Blossom Festival. The real life answer though is that it is fabulous to see over 3,500 cherry trees in full bloom around the Tidal Basin and East Potomac Park–a photographer’s haven. Add to that two weeks full of concerts, parades, fireworks, and other special events, and you have a little something for everyone.
Timing a visit to the National Cherry Blossom Festival is a personal preference coinciding with why you are there. My reason for attending is to see all of the beautiful pink blooms. Nobody forewarned me last year that the blooms do not last as long as the festival. I decided to wait until the last weekend in hopes that there would be less crowds. I got my wish on the crowds not being very bad, but there were only a few trees left with blooms. This year, I have been tracking the peak bloom time period on the National Park’s Bloom Schedule hoping that there will still be blooms left when I visit. On the flipside, some people like to time their visit based upon the entertainment schedule (linked above under special events).
An extra special part of the Cherry Blossom Festival for our family was the Junior Ranger tent. My daughter’s enjoyed earning another Junior Ranger badge doing fun, hands-on activities that taught them the history behind the Cherry Blossom Festival as well as about the Japanese culture. The Cherry Blossom FestivalJunior Ranger Program is found exclusively on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
If the actual Cherry Blossom Festival activities, like concerts, are not the type of thing that you like to do, then there is always visiting the rest of the National Mall. My girls took advantage of the Cherry Blossom Festival being located at the National Mall and also earned their National Mall Junior Ranger badges while they were there. It allows you to stay away from the main festival crowds and still enjoy the beautiful blooming trees.
Another great aspect about the National Cherry Blossom Festival is that free parking is offered around East Potomac Park. If you look at a map, the parking is a little bit of a walk. The walk is do-able, but there is also a free shuttle that runs about every half hour if you are willing to wait.
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