This year’s Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival got off to a perfect start Thursday, April 5, with sunshine and cherry blossoms both cooperating. The Akebono cherry trees alongside Burrard Skytrain station (site of the festival kick-off) were in full bloom!
The event included Taiko drumming and other performances of Japanese music, as well as energetic Bollywood-influenced dancing that got the crowd joining in (led by Shiamak dancers, who are choreographing a flashmob umbrella dance to happen April 14).
The blossoms, people, and multicultural celebration inspired this haiku:
downtown Vancouver
oasis of blossoms
welcomes everyone
(Note: the festival also hosts an annual international haiku contest)
The celebration of blossoms continued at Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Garden over the weekend with Sakura Days Japan Fair.
Tags: cherry blossoms, haiku, hanami, sakura, Sakura Days Japan Fair, spring, Vancouver, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
wild ink 
April 9, 2012 at 6:26 pm |
Lucky!!!! Ours are long gone, though I am enjoyed some mysterious (not cherry) tree blossoming by our front deck. I’ll post pictures soon. Hope you enjoyed it enough for me too.
April 9, 2012 at 10:23 pm |
Some varieties are finished here, but others are just starting. Should be enough blossoms to keep me going for a couple more weeks…
April 20, 2012 at 11:22 am |
Still blooming? Ours are long gone and again, I didn’t see a one. 😦 Thanks for stopping by.
April 20, 2012 at 2:18 pm |
The ones in the above photo are finished now, but some different varieties are still in bloom. I promised a follow-up post on another Cherry Blossom Festival event, but haven’t had time to write it yet –hope there are still some blooming by the time get to it!
February 5, 2017 at 2:46 pm |
[…] partnering with Vancouver’s Joy Kogawa House to celebrate haiku with events leading up to the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. Last night, I was joined by other members of the Vancouver Haiku Group, as well as visiting poet […]