Ron Edmonds/AP
Around the country—and around the world—delicate pink blossoms are bursting among the often still-bare landscapes. And if the pink petals aren’t in full bloom yet, pale green buds allude to the coming cascades of flowers.
Yes, it’s the beginning of cherry blossom season and people are celebrating.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., kicked off this past weekend and festivities will continue through April 10. More than one million people visit the capital during the bloom, and festival attendees can enjoy numerous hands-on activities and exhibits for all ages; the blossom parade on April 9; a performance stage featuring classical and contemporary music and dance; fireworks and more.
The festival commemorates the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the mayor of Tokyo to the District of Columbia on March 27, 1912. The first festival took place in 1935 and expanded into a two-week celebration in 1994. See historic photos of the festival in this Washington Post slideshow.
More than just a symbol of spring, the blossoms signify the friendship between the United States and Japan. (Listen to an NPR story about the significance of cherry blossoms in Japanese culture.)
While the 2011 festival officially began with opening ceremonies on Saturday, a special walk through the Tidal Basin took place on Thursday, March 24. Washington, D.C., citizens and visitors marched along the cherry tree-lined Basin as a show of solidarity and tribute to the victims of the Japanese tsunami and earthquake.
Earlier in the month, the National Parks Service sent 144 clippings from 15 of the remaining original trees as a gesture of friendship to Japan.
If you can’t make it to Washington, D.C., to celebrate the blossoming of the cherry trees, you can keep an eye on the blooms with the National Parks Service cherry blossom webcam. This year’s peak bloom is expected between March 29 and April 1.
And the capital is not the only U.S. city celebrating the cherry blossoms! Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Macon, Georgia, are all host notable blossom festivals as well.
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