Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2012 (Apr 5-28)

Arguably, the beginning of Spring is associated with the emergence of the first cherry blossoms. The reality is that we have had such cold weather that I’m not confident that having cherry blossoms signals warmer weather. Regardless, they’re starting to appear in our fair city and that reminded me of the upcoming Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2012 which will take place from April 5th through 28th.

Canada’s cherry blossom festival the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Society is a non-profit charitable society established in 2005 in the province of British Columbia. The City of Vancouver declared March and April the months to honor the more than 37,000 ornamental cherry trees generously gifted from Japan in the 1930’s. As the quintessential symbol of spring, the universal theme of the cherry tree inspires new poetry, art, music, film, design, crafts, photography, and cuisine while inspiring the artist in us all. Through a wide array of diverse programs from Cherry Jam Downtown, Haiku Invitational, Bike the Blossoms, Japan Fair, BC Blossom Watch Photo Contest, Cherry Scouts Program, Tree Talks and Walks and the Cherry Blossom Viewing Map the festival captures the exuberance of the blossoming with cultural programming for the whole community to enjoy. Inspired by the age old Sakura festivals of Japan, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival uplifts spirits in the city, while the ephemeral nature of the blossoms remind us all to take time now to celebrate life.

Check out the list of awesome events associated and hopefully you’ll be able to take in some of them, and walk around the city and enjoy some cherry blossoms. I remember that the VCBS used to map them out by week so you could find out where they would blossom next, week by week. I can’t find the map right now but it’s a good one.