The National Cherry Blossom Festival will return live and in-person this spring after two years of going virtual and hybrid due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced Tuesday.
“D.C. is open. We’ve been through a lot, but we’re open,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, speaking at an event at The Hamilton Live. “The cherry blossoms were a bright spot in a few dreary days and a beautiful reminder of the hope that they inspire and the sense of renewal that they embody.”
The spring celebration’s signature events such as the opening ceremony, Blossom Kite Festival, Pink Tie Party and a parade will be back in person this upcoming March and April.
“We will ensure that D.C. continues to own spring,” said Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. “Local residents and visitors will be invited to celebrate art, food, fun and the beautiful cherry trees while supporting the economic recovery of Washington, D.C.”
“Of course, we’re going to have safety and health as part of our top priorities as we create our events,” she said, adding that more plans are in the works. For example, she said in addition to the Blossom Kite Festival on the National Mall, there will be “pocket parks” of smaller kite festivals around the region to meet the different comfort levels of festival participants about gathering in crowds.
Ms. Mayhew said the plan as of right now is to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for the festival’s indoor events. She said festival events will adhere to current public health guidelines in order to keep people safe.
“We have our hopes to bring everything back in full,” she said. “We’re planning that, and obviously there will be some alternative plans and other alternatives so people can enjoy in different ways.”
In 2020, the festival was shut down for nine days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ms. Mayhew, and many of the events were live-streamed. Last year, the festival offered hybrid events with online viewing and smaller in-person events.
Festival stakeholders also unveiled the spring celebration’s official artwork, done by local artist Lea Craigie-Marshall, during Tuesday’s event. The digitally rendered piece depicts monarch butterflies fluttering among cherry blossoms with the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial in the background. Her artwork will be displayed throughout the festival.
“It’s wonderful to use my art and have a broader audience view it,” said Ms. Craigie-Marshall, a Brunswick, Maryland resident. “For me, I just want my art to bring joy. So to be able to bring joy to thousands, millions of people, it’s wonderful.”
“I think we’re back to a place of joy in Washington, D.C. and the nation at large after a while of not being in so much joy,” she added. She said her artwork features monarch butterflies among the cherry blossoms as a reminder that beauty is fleeting.
The Falls Church native was also one of 25 artists selected to paint a 2021 Art in Bloom Giant Cherry Blossom Sculpture titled “Crane’s Dane.” The painting is now permanently installed at Ward Memorial AME Church in Ward 7.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled to run March 20 to April 17, with the parade taking place Saturday, April 9 along Constitution Ave. The annual event celebrates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the District and the lasting friendship between the people of the United States and Japan, according to the festival’s website.
The opening ceremony at Warner Theatre will be on March 20 and the Blossom Kite Festival at the Washington Monument Grounds March 26. A “Petalpalooza” is being held at Capitol Riverfront on April 16, and the Tidal Basin will feature a welcome area and performance stage during the weekdays and weekends that coincide with peak bloom.
The cherry blossoms typically reach their peak bloom between the last week of March and the first week of April. Peak bloom is when 70% of the Yoshino Cherry blossoms are open.
The blossoms have reached their peak bloom as early as March 15 back in 1990 and as late as April 18 in 1958 due to “extraordinary warm or cool temperatures,” according to the National Park Service.
The Yoshino trees usually bloom for several days, depending on the weather conditions. It is nearly impossible to forecast peak bloom more than 10 days in advance, the NPS says.
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