Mayor Muriel Bowser, alongside National Cherry Blossom Festival and National Park Service officials, has announced plans to Rediscover Spring — and projected peak bloom for the 2022 National Cherry Blossom Festival.
The annual springtime celebration, now in its 110th year honoring the gift of the cherry trees from Japan, has long been a symbol of hope, renewal, and new beginnings, but Bowser said, “Especially now, especially today, we celebrate friendships from peace-loving and friendship-loving people from around the world.”
The 2022 Festival will bring back well-loved traditions in person, as well as new collaborations and experiences from March 20 – April 17 for four weeks of food, fun, culture, and entertainment beyond the fully open Tidal Basin.
According to Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, peak bloom within those dates is projected to be March 22-25.
From the first day of spring and the opening day of the 2022 Festival, the District and surrounding communities will come alive with a pink, spring, and blossom-themed collective community celebration through visual art installations, neighborhoods decorations, cherry blossom projections on buildings, and more.
Among the anticipated events for the 2022 Cherry Blossom Festival include the Festival’s Opening Ceremony, held March 20th at the Warner Theatre, which will feature Japanese music and samurai sword dancers. The Sakura Matsuri — the U.S.’s largest one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the U.S. — will be even bigger as it will be held on two days. Blossom-themed sporting events will be played by the Nationals, DC United, and the Wizards; The iconic kite festival returns on March 26th, and the popular parade will again return to its route on April 9th featuring a performance by American pop icon Taylor Dane as well as DC go-go band Rare Essence who will perform on the Events DC sponsor float.
Also new this year are partnerships with LaCroix which is debuting a new Cherry Blossom flavored sparkling water and Mars/Mars Petcare which recently included DC in its BETTER CITIES FOR PETS program.
“This year, we are pleased to finally be back in person and have the opportunity to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the gift of 3,000 cherry trees that were given to us by Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Live-stream and taped options for many signature events will remain available however, as will the ever-popular #BloomCam.
She added, “Whether you are a fifth-generation Washingtonian like me or a first-time visitor to our nation’s capital, I hope you will immerse yourself in the spectacular radiance of our beautiful and blossoming cherry trees and take advantage of all that our city has to offer.”
