Believe it or not, despite the dreary weather today, Spring is finally upon us!

For those of us who grew up in the D.C. area, nothing quite marks the beginning of Spring like the National Cherry Blossom

Festival.  Commemorating the March 27, 1912 gift of Cherry Trees from the Mayor of Tokyo City to the city of Washington, D.C.,  the Cherry

Blossom Festival is a four-week celebration, in and around the National Mall.   The gift of these trees marked the growing friendship between

the United States and Japan, and the festival is a way to celebrate this continuing friendship between our nations.  The Cherry Blossom

festival is marked by a popular Kite Festival on Saturday,  March 30th, a Pink Tie Party, live music, food, a Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run & 5k

on April 7th, and the Cherry Blossom parade, which caps off the festivities on April 13th.

The National Park Service is currently expecting peak bloom between April 3 and 6. For those of you who are first-timers to the festival, there

are three main areas to see the blossoms: near the Washington Monument, slightly south at the Tidal Basin in west Potomac Park and south

of that at Hains Point in east Potomac Park.  The National Park service recommends putting aside at least an hour to walk the entire Tidal

Basin.

For a list of events and more information, follow this link: https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/events/