U.S. cherry blossom festivals this spring

Over the next couple of months, regions in Japan will take their turns blushing pink during nature’s annual extraordinary display of blossoming cherry trees. It’s a celebration of spring, a time revered among locals and tourists who mark the short-lived weeks with festivities, parties and picnics in the park.

If you don’t have the time or yen (and by that, I mean either the desire or the dough), to make a hop o’er the Pacific to see the cherry blossoms (sakura in Japanese) bloom, you can take part in festivities closer to home, here in Los Angeles or beyond.

In the States, cherry trees also show their true colors in spring; in fact, guess where you’ll find them around L.A.? Festivities here are more about celebrating Japanese culture than any rituals ’round the trees, but festivities are planned to coincide with the expected time of the blooms. At the family-friendly events, you’ll likely hear taiko drums, eat Japanese food and witness a parade or pageant or two.

Macon, Georgia
Cherry Blossom Festival
March 28-April 6, 2008

Washington, D.C.
National Cherry Blossom Festival
March 29-April 13, 2008

Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)
Cherry Blossom Festival of Southern California
April 5-6, 2008

San Francisco
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
April 12-13 and 19-20, 2008

Seattle, Washington
Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival
April 18-20, 2008

Related: The Blossom Trail of Fresno County Photo Gallery

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 6:08 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.