The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, D.C., to enhance and celebrate the growing friendship between the United States and Japan. Three thousand, eight hundred more trees were accepted in 1965 by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, and so went the back-and-forth tradition of gifting trees. The first Cherry Blossom Festival was held in 1935 and sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital, and it’s only grown from there. In 1994, the Festival was expanded to two weeks to accommodate the many activities that happen during the time when the cherry trees bloom. Today, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc., an umbrella organization consisting of representatives of business, civic, and governmental organizations, coordinate the National Cherry Blossom Festival. More than a million people visit Washington each year to admire the blossoming cherry trees and participate in the Festival, which heralds spring in the nation's capital. 

Festival Details:
For more information on the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which is March 28 through April 12, 2009, click here. 
For a listing of events during the Festival, including performances, tours, walks, and bike rides, click here. 
For more information on the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which draws nearly 100,000 spectators to Downtown D.C. each year and is the largest event of the Festival, click here. 
To get involved in the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival on April 4, 2009, click here. 
To purchase grandstand seating along the parade route, click here. 
If you’re interested in attending the 49th Annual Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival on Saturday, April 4, which includes Japanese food, arts, music, and performances, click here. 
To purchase tickets to The National Cherry Blossom Festival Gala Dinner Cruise aboard The Odyssey on April 9, 2009, click here. 
If you have questions about parking, public transportation, times, merchandise, weather issues, etc., see the FAQ page on the official Festival website. 

To learn more about the history of the festival and to view a stunning array of photos of the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., see “Cherry Blossoms: Spring’s Splendor,” on page 57 of the March/April issue of Victoria magazine.