Hi everyone. This is a special episode of In Case You’re Wondering because we are in downtown Washington DC the day before the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival. In this video, we hope to give you a little background about the festival, a couple of tips to plan your visit, take a look at some key sites related to the cherry trees around the tidal basin, and give quick a preview of the key events that will be taking place over the next five weeks.
#cherryblossomfestival #washingtondc #nationalcherryblossomfestival #2023nationalcherryblossomfestival #washington #dc #districtofcolumbia #tidalbasin #cherryblossom #festival #incaseyourewondering #travel #travelling #traveller #traveling #traveler #travelvlog #travelblog #travelblogger #travelvlogger #virtualtour
The official dates for the festival starts tomorrow, March 18th and runs through April 16th. It is actually starting quite early, because with such a warm winter in DC, peak bloom is expected to happen earlier this year. Currently, peak bloom is officially predicted to be from March 22nd to March 25th. Those are the estimated dates from the National Park Service and represents when they expect at least 70% of the Yoshino cherry trees around this Tidal Basin to be open. These blooms, cherry blossoms, are known as Sakura in Japanese.
This year, “Spring It On!” Is the slogan of the festival and in DC it is a welcome party for the beginning of spring. The National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of these beautiful trees from Japan and includes international activities highlighting this international friendship. Today, there are more that 3,000 trees surrounding the tidal basin. These cherry trees live for about 50 years on average, but with care, they can live over 100 years.
Some quick tips if you are coming into town to see this magnificent ushering in of spring time.
There are over 1.5 million people that descend on this nation’s capital to see the cherry blossoms. As such, to avoid the crowds, there are two recommendations
– First, come as early as possible. The tidal basin is open 24/7 so at sunrise it will be much less crowded and you can get some amazing pictures. By the same token, crowds start filtering out late afternoon, so sunset is also a better time to visit, but morning is the best
– Also, try to come on a weekday as weekends are the most crowded
Our second tip is not to drive downtown
There will be a lot of street closures and re-routing; and parking is limited. If you have to drive, try to reserve a spot using SpotHero
We would recommend either taking the metro to the Smithsonian stop and walking 15 minutes to the basin, or
You can get on a the DC Circulator bus at a more remote location and hop off at the tidal basin
Tip number three. Dress in layers. Although it will be springtime, especially if you get there early, it might be a bit chilly, so you will want to dress in layers to stay warm in the morning, but be able to take off items as it gets warmer, and you heat up walking around the sights.
Tip number four is to wear good, comfortable, shoes as you will be doing a lot of walking around town
Our last tip is that there are alternative venues to see the cherry blossoms if the crowds are a little bit much.
You can take a paddle boat out on the tidal basin to get a unique view
Downtown, you can head to areas outside of the tidal basin, including
The Washington Monument
West Potomac Park
And Hains Point (or East Potomac Park)
Finally, outside of downtown DC, cherry blossoms can be seen at
The National Arboretum
In Dumbarton Oaks (Georgetown)
At Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, VA)
And in a cute neighborhood called Kenworth in Bethesda, MD
Walking around the tidal basin, there are a number of key historic sites to see:
First, there is the indicator tree.It is called the indicator tree because it reliably blooms 7 to 10 days before peak bloom.
Second, is the Japanese Pagoda. It is a stone statue that was given a gift by the mayor of Yokohama, Japan in 1957.
The third structure we want to point out is the Japanese Stone Lantern. It is located in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C. next to the Tidal Basin. Each year, as a part of the festival there is a lantern ceremony where this lantern is lit. This year, it will be held on April 9th from 2:30 to 4:30 PM.
Finally, to end this video, we highlight a few of the many activities that will be going on this year.