Brooklyn Botanical Garden cancels cherry blossom festival, but plans more spring events
'28.03.2023'
Nadezhda Verbitskaya
Cherry blossoms are already in bloom all over New York. At the same time, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where there are a lot of these trees, will not hold the Sakura Matsuri festival, the annual celebration of cherry blossoms, this year. But this does not mean that the Garden will leave the townspeople completely without spring events dedicated to flowers, writes Secret nyc.
Sakura Matsuri is the annual cherry blossom festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. It is dedicated to Japanese culture, and in addition to the flowers themselves, has always offered a large program of themed events. It usually takes place at the end of April. But, unfortunately, it was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And since then it has not been held. This year there was hope that it would be resumed, but decided not to do so.
Instead of the Sakura Matsuri Festival this April and May, a series of events called Weekends in Bloom will be held to celebrate the cherry blossom season.
On the subject: Sakura in New York: where, when and how to watch the bloom
During four weekends: April 22-23 and 29-30, as well as May 6-7 and May 13-14, the Garden will host music and dance performances, cultural performances, workshops for children and families, excursions and much more .
More details about specific events have not yet been given. But last year, attendees could enjoy a master class, a flower hat dance parade, traditional and modern anime-style songs, and performances from the New York State Japanese Folk Dance Institute.
Access to Weekends in Bloom events is free for those who have purchased a ticket to the Botanical Garden.
In addition to Weekends in Bloom, this year the garden is launching a new evening program called Hanami Nights.
During these events, guests can spend the evening under the cherry blossoms celebrating hanami. This is a Japanese tradition of experiencing the ephemeral beauty of the cherry blossom season with live music and dancing, as well as special food and drink.
Hanami Nights will take place on April 25 and May 2 from 17:00 to 20:00 at Cherry Esplanade, Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and Atrium. This is a ticketed event. Additional information will be announced shortly.
In addition, during the peak of the flowering season, the Garden extended its opening hours. So you will have enough time to see the sakura in all its glory:
From April 1 to May 15, 2023, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden operates according to the following schedule:
- Tuesday-Thursday - 8:00 - 20:30;
- Friday-Sunday - 8:00 - 18:00.
You can follow the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens using this tracker.
