Cherry blossom festival starts in Washington

March 26, 2018

Washington- The National Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off in Washington Sunday, drawing a crowd of people who had waited in the prolonged cold weather for the annual event to herald the arrival of spring.

In the opening ceremony at the Warner Theater, Japanese pop singers Akiko Yano and T.M. Revolution attracted audiences with their performances. Shinsuke Sugiyama, new Japanese ambassador to the United States, delivered a congratulatory speech.

Due to the longer-than-usual winter in the capital, buds of more than 3,000 cherry trees of the Somei-Yoshino variety along the Potomac River, donated by the Japanese capital of Tokyo in 1912, have just started to come out.

"I wish I were here a week later," Karen Chesney, 47, from California, who was in Washington on a business trip, said while taking pictures of trees with only a handful of blossoms.

Still, visitors, including many families, were having fun viewing swelling buds, which a boy who seemed to be three years old or so excitedly called "popcorn."

The festival will be held through April 15. According to its organizer, the cherry trees are expected to reach peak bloom in April 8-12, three weeks later than the initial forecast. Jiji Press