The National Cherry Blossom Festival

Ask anyone that knows me well, and they will tell you that spring is my most favorite season. Not only does it signal the end of winter (my least favorite season) and the return of warmer weather, more sunshine and eventually summer, but it also means that the cherry blossoms arrive! Every year I (along with nearly a million other visitors) make our way into Washington DC to take part on the yearly festival and photograph the cherry blossoms during their peak bloom.

So How Did The Festival Come About?

Most people know that in early 1921 3,000 cherry blossom trees were given as a gift by Mayor Yokio Oraki to the United States to commemorate the growing friendship between the two countries. On March 27, First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, the wife of Japan’s ambassador to the US, planted the first couple of cherry trees in West Potomac Park. Only a few people gathered to watch. Washington DC’s National Cherry Blossom Festival grew from this simple ceremony to a now four-week world-renowned celebration. Three years later the gift was reciprocated by the United States by sending some flowering dogwood to Japan.

However, the story doesn’t begin there. It begins two decades earlier with a young woman named Eliza Scidmore.

Even though she was born in 1856, Eliza was by all accounts a “modern” woman – a writer, photographer and avid world traveler at a time when most women stayed close to home. She even joined the National Geographic Society and became the first woman to sit on their board of trustees. Her career began after she attended Oberlin College and moved to Washington, DC. She became a newspaper correspondent but yearned to see more of the world. In 1883 she traveled to Alaska on a sightseeing tour and wrote articles about her travels (there’s even a mountain and a glacier and bay named for her). After her first trip to Japan in 1885 she returned to the United States and began a two-decades long endeavor to bring cherry blossom trees to the nations capitol. Over the years she worked with First Lady Helen Taft, park officials, and representatives of Japan. The project faced many setbacks, but eventually succeeded. Sadly only about 100 of the original trees remain, but are still admired for their beauty, a beauty she wanted everyone to see.

My Favorite Things to See and Do During the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC

The Cherry Blossom Parade

National Cherry Blossom Festival Details for 2023

Cherry blossom blooms come and go quickly, don’t miss your chance to celebrate the pink flowers while they are here!

jdyrholm