Brooklyn Cherry Blossom Festival Is This Weekend: Here's Everything You Need To Know

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual cherry blossom festival is underway this weekend, offering breathtaking blooms and traditional Japanese culture.

The festival, formally known as "Sakura Matsuri," takes place Saturday and Sunday at the garden and coincides with the blooming of dozens of cherry trees inside its borders. The garden says it is "the largest event held in a U.S. public garden."

"Based on the Japanese tradition of appreciating the beauty and fleeting nature of cherry blossoms, hanami at Brooklyn Botanic Garden draws New Yorkers and visitors from around the world each spring to view one of the most spectacular cherry blossom displays in North America," an announcement from the garden reads.

Here's everything you need to know about the festival.

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Schedule

The festival takes place on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Both days are jam-packed with "over 60 events and performances that celebrate traditional and contemporary Japanese culture."

They include tea ceremonies, a "prim and proper" parasol society fashion show, lessons in traditional Japanese board games and a market at the Osborne Garden.

Tokyo indie rock duo Uhnellys headlines the events on the main stage Saturday, and a cosplay fashion show wraps things up Sunday.

Click here to see the full Saturday schedule and here for Sunday.

Tickets

Tickets to the festival start at $25 each day for seniors and students with a valid ID. Adults pay $30 to get in. Kids 12 and under get in free.

Cherry blossoms

The blooming of the botanic garden's cherry blossoms are generally seen as the unofficial start of spring in Brooklyn. Delayed a bit by some mid-March snow storms, this year's blooming began in late March.

The botanic garden has an online tracker that maps the progress of its cherry trees.

Lead image: Cherry Esplanade during Sakura Matsuri. Photo by Julie Markes. Courtesy of Brooklyn Botanic Garden.