Brooklyn Botanical Gardens - Sakura Matsuri

Pink Cherry Blossoms

This year, I finally made it to the Cherry Blossom Festival or "Sakura Matsuri" at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens! A guided bus trip with Friendship Tours is definitely the way to go. Bus driver, Bob, handles the New York city traffic deftly, while guide, Eva, entertains with info, stories, and movies! Here are some photos from my trip: 

White Cherry Blossoms

 

A bit of both!

The Japanese Garden

A closer view

And then I found this by crawling under the branches of a tree!

The Shakespeare Fragrance Garden

Tulips bloom in April in Brooklyn

Wide paved walkways make the gardens accessible to all!

More tulips!

 For my morning snack, I sat at the edge of the pond watching children follow the Koi, and a large fish everyone was convinced was a catfish. I ate rice and bits of salmon wrapped in a flat seaweed.

Ponds outside the Conservatory

Most of my conservatory photos came out pretty foggy, as I had to keep wiping my camera lens and eyeglasses, but this one came out pretty good.

I love Bonsai, so was excited to see this exhibit!

Simply displayed, the Bonsai convey a sense of serenity despite the packed house!

Love the way this branch gracefully slopes down and around the pot

A naturalized area with daffodils in bloom

Garden arbors

Woodland Bluebells replace lawn on both sides of this barked walkway

People dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos were everywhere!

 I spread my jacket out on the ground, sat down and enjoyed Taiko Masala (traditional taiko drumming), and other performances, while I ate my $20 bowl of fried popcorn chicken and sabo noodles.

The lawn in front of the stage started filling up before performances began at noon.

I tried to get a closer look at the drummers who were very entertaining and could be heard from one end of the botanical gardens to the other.

A conch shell becomes an instrument announcing the beginning of a performance.

Fan dancers accompany soft flute music.

This one woman played three characters by changing her mask for each part.

From the overlook, I found a good view of the closed rose garden which is not yet in bloom.

An overview of the Cherry Esplanade shows some trees getting ready to bloom, some in full bloom, and others just past bloom stage.

Japanese video game and comic book characters inspire many to dress in "Anime," or Japanese animation.

For the kids - Bright yellow happy face blow up chairs at the J-Lounge Stage

A gorgeous kimono

Mikoshi, or Portable Shinto Shrine, transports a Deity - think Ark of the Covenant

Kokeshi Dolls, handcrafted wooden dolls of northern Japan

Games of Go were set up for anyone to play...

...and games of Shogi, or Japanese chess.

Many visitors dressed for the occasion!

A final look at the draping cherry blossoms

 One word of caution for anyone planning a trip to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens - this is not a quiet, serene garden. Planes fly over every few minutes, at times you stand in crowds shoulder to shoulder, and there are long waits for food and restrooms. However, if you are looking for a fun festival atmosphere, this is the place to be!

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides. 

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