New York City's 2009 Cherry Blossom Celebration
First Week of May Marks the Big Apple's 28th Sakura Matsuri Festival
Apr 30, 2009
For a short time every spring, New York City, like many American cities, is filled with the beautiful and fragrant pink blossoms of the Japanese cherry tree.
This year, New York City celebrates the fleeting cherry-blossom time with its 28th annual "Hanami", or homage to the cherry tree, and "Sakura Matsuri" or cherry-blossom "rite of spring" festival, at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
An Urban Oasis with a Japanese Flair
The Brooklyn Botanic is a 52-acre horticultural oasis in Brooklyn that is densely packed with plants from all over the globe. It has a famous Japanese Hill and Pond Garden, designed by Takeo Shiota, with a genuine ancient Shinto shrine and other historic artifacts, some several hundred years old. Graceful weeping cherry trees adorn the pond in the Japanese Garden, augmenting those in the adjacent Cherry Esplanade.
New York City's 2009 Sakura Matsuri Features Taiko and J-Pop
The Garden forms a beautiful backdrop for Sakura Matsuri, an exciting and colorful two-day celebration of Japanese music, dance, and performing arts. In 2009, the festival occurs May 2nd and 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will include traditional taiko drumming, J-pop concerts and bonsai pruning workshops, among many other activities for adults and children.
Two of Japan's hottest J-pop stars, Minami Kizuki and Ai Kawashima, will be performing on Saturday, May 2nd. Sunday features performances by Samurai Sword Soul and a traditional kimono show with courtesan costumes from the Edo Period.
Visitors Can Participate in Flower Arranging, Bonsai Pruning and Doll Making
There will be exhibits of Ikebana flower arrangements, bonsai display and Washi and Mataro Ningyo dolls. Workshops on origami paper folding, taiko drumming and the game of Go will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Demonstrations will include Doll making, flower arranging, woodblock printing and a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Garden's Web Site Has Entertaining, Informative Features
For those who can't make the festival, the Garden's Web site has links to the Web pages of the performers and many fun, cherry-blossom related features, including an interactive diagram that shows the current individual bloom state of more than 100 of the 220 cherry trees in the Garden. When the cursor is placed over one of the trees on the diagram, a small pop-up window with information about that individual tree appears.
The Web site also has a time-lapse video that can be inserted into a personal blog, created from over 3,000 photographs of the Cherry Walk, featuring music by Jon Solo, a local musician. And snapshot-happy visitors can post their photos of the cherry blossoms on a special Flickr page.
For More Information Go to Www.bbg.org
Information about tickets for the Garden, the Sakura Matsuri festival and hours of admission are available on the Garden's Web site.
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