Cherry Blossom Festival returns to Fairmount Park this weekend
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Looking for something to do this weekend? The Philadelphia's Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off Friday night at the Horticulture Center and Centennial Arboretum in West Fairmount Park.
The festival highlights Japanese culture with a variety of events and blooming cherry blossoms, called "sakura" in Japanese.
Admission to the festival is free to the public and non-ticketed. Attendees can pay "what you wish" to support the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia. Donors will be entered into a raffle to win select prizes, including roundtrip tickets to Japan.
The annual spring celebration is hosted by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia and Subaru Of America, Inc.
"You can experience Japan while you are here," said Kazumi Teune, the society's executive director.
Almost 100 years ago in 1926, the city marked the sesquicentennial celebration, meaning 150 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
For that celebration, the Japanese government gave Philadelphia 1,600 flowering cherry trees.
After that, the society pledged another 1,000 cherry trees to be planted in 1998.
This year, the society pledged to plant another 600 trees.
"I'm very happy that we can do this," Teune said. "As a Japanese person living in Philadelphia, I never thought we could do this, so this connection is amazing, and I want people in Philadelphia to know about this connection between Philadelphia and Japan going back that long."
If they don't know, this is a good weekend to come find out.
There are live bands, cultural workshops, kimono dressing and plenty of sights and events to check out.
"We've got some funk bands, some reggae, some jazz," making for a nice mix of musical styles, said Rob Buscher, the society's associate director of organizational culture.
A lot of the performers are coming from West Philadelphia.
"It's going to be a great mix of not just Japanese and Japanese American arts and cultural traditions, but also the blended traditions that we celebrate together," Buscher said.
The festival runs through Sunday, April 16.
Additional events will be held throughout April at different venues, including a film retrospective at Lightbox Film Center, cultural demonstrations, sushi classes, and seminars. For more information, click here.