Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2012

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival has done a fantastic job of celebrating the lovely pink petals that adorn over 40,000 local trees through promoting community events like dances, lunches, painting classes and more.

Photo credit: Judy B – The Travelling Eye on Flickr

Photo credit: aloalo* & Eric Flexyourhead on Flickr

Cherry Jam Downtown
When: Thursday, April 5, 2012 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Where: Burrard SkyTrain station plaza
What: Free lunchtime concert. Pre-order a Sakura Bento Box Lunch created by Master Chef Hidekazu Tojo and other local chefs. Lunches can be picked up from 11:00am to 2:00pm at the station. There will also be culinary demonstrations from 11:00am to 12:00pm.

Sakura Days Japan Fair
When: April 7 and 8, from 10:00am to 5:00pm
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
What: Family-friendly Japanese festival at VanDusen Gardens in the Visitor Centre. Enjoy food, traditional tea ceremonies, sake, cultural performances, crafts, and more.

Cherry Blossom Flash Mob
When: Saturday April 14, 2012 from 2:00pm
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia side
What: Since you’re not supposed to advertise a flash mob, I won’t give away too many details here. Stop by to check out what will happen.

Plein Air Painting Classes
When: April 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 11:00am to 2:00pm
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
What: Painting classes among the blossoms at the gardens taught by Federation of Canadian Artists such as Alfonso Tejada, Bob McMurray, Alan Wylie, Janice Robertson. Suitable for beginners and advanced artists and you can work in water colour, oil, or acrylic.

Bike The Blossoms
When: Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 10:30am
Where: China Creek Park South
What: Join Velopalooza and the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival for a fun, free guided bike ride. The ride will tour the blossom cherry trees in Vancouver and include a talk by Parks Board Arborist, Bill Stephen.

Check out the cherry blossom map to find some of best places for taking pictures and enjoying the beauty of the trees. You can also submit your cherry blossom haiku until June 4, 2012 and create your own cherry blossom origami.

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 40,000 ornamental cherry trees generously gifted from Japan in the 1930’s.