Since the weather finally started to get nicer out, we decided that we wanted to check out what was going on at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.. After doing a little researching and talking with Jon, we decided on going to the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Festival while checking out the cherry blossoms.
Since Jon is really big into the Japanese culture and Michael is showing signs of having the same interests, we decided that the annual
Sakura Maturi Japanese Street Festival would be a perfect event to go to. For this festival, the Japan-America Society of Washington shut down a section (between 3rd and 7th St. NW) of Washington, D.C. for people to come and immerse themselves in the Japanese culture. There are several stages were different Japanese bands, dance groups, and other performances are performed throughout the day. There's also several food vendors so you can eat while watching a performance or just walking around. Jon and I have decided that next year we are going to try some Japanese food to see how well we would do if we ever go to Japan. Along with performances and food, there are vendors that sell Japanese merchandise. If you are in to anime like Jon, this is the place to go.
They also make sure that there are fun and yet educational things for the kids to do while there. Michael got to make a cherry blossom tree and also received a children's book by a Japanese author.
Michael also got to learn how to write his name in Japanese. Jon and Michael also learned how to write our last name as well. I plan on turning this into some wall art for our house.
The Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival does have an admission cost, but it's not going to break the bank. For the 2018 festival, children 12 and under got in free. The cost for adults (13+) was $10 each. You can either purchase them online or at the gate. We are actually think of making this a family tradition and hope to immerse ourselves even more next year.
After the festival was over with, we decided to walk down to the Tidal Basin to see all the cherry blossoms. The trees were in bloom, but had heard that they looked a little better several days prior.
We decided that we would try and get some pictures while we were down there. Since the weather was so nice and there was a
Cherry Blossom Festival parade earlier in the day, everyone else had the same idea. Just keep in mind that it can be rather busy down there.
Since the festival is about a month long, there are many events that go on during that time. Hopefully next year we'll participate in some of them. Have you been to the National Cherry Blossom Festival? If so, what fun things did you do? Would love to hear about them - we are always looking for fun things to do here in the DC Metro area.
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