Visitor’s Guide to the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.

Cherry blossoms are a sure sign that spring has arrived, and there’s no better place to enjoy the beautiful sea of pink than the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Held every year in Washington, D.C, it is one of the most popular spring events in the country.

Spring is the time for revitalization and regrowth. Much like autumn, spring provides gorgeous colors, but this time a sea of pastel greens and pinks. Cherry blossoms are among spring’s best attractions, and one of the most spectacular places to check out the blooms is during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.

While the timing of the festival changes every year, over the years the schedule has extended to run across several weeks to increase chances that visitors will be able to see peak bloom. Peak bloom is defined as the day when 70% of the cherry blossom trees in the area have opened their buds. In general, the festival runs from mid-March through mid-April, though the organizers did make last-minute changes to the dates in 2017 and 2018 to accommodate an early bloom.

Of course, Washington isn’t the only place that has a cherry blossom festival, but it is the oldest and also the largest in the United States. Although the main event is definitely checking out the beautiful cherry blossoms, there’s much more to do over the three-week-long festival.

National Cherry Blossom Festival History

The effort to bring cherry trees to Washington started in 1885 with Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, who had floated the idea to plant cherry trees along the Potomac River after her trip to Japan. Unfortunately, the initial idea was rebuffed, and it wasn’t until 1909 that Scidmore took matters into her own hands and raised money to buy cherry trees to donate to the District. She reached out to First Lady Helen Taft, informing her of her plans, who in turn agreed to the project.

At the same time, a Japanese chemist was also in Washington with Mr. Midzuno, the Japanese consul to New York City. When he learned of the plan to plant Japanese cherry trees along the speedway, he donated an additional 2,000 trees on behalf of Tokyo. Unfortunately, the original 2,000 trees had to be burned due to bug infestation. Luckily, Mayor Yukio Oazaki donated another 3,000 in 1912 to enhance the friendship between the U.S. and Japan. First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda planted the first cherry trees on March 27, 1912.

Although the cherry trees were planted in 1912, the first Cherry Blossom Festival was held in late 1934, becoming an annual event in 1935. Since then, more events have been added to the festival to what is now a three-week cultural festival that more than 1.5 million people visit each year. The number of trees has grown to 3,750 over the years, featuring more than 16 varieties of cherry blossoms.

What to Do at the National Cherry Blossom Festival?

The highlight of the festival might be the cherry blossoms, but there’s a lot more to it than pretty flowers! The festival offers a variety of activities. Of course, if you want the best views of the cherry blossoms, there are a few key locations for some amazing pictures, many of which get very crowded. The most crowded place will be along Tidal Basin, so if you want to avoid the crowd, there are a few locations that are just as pretty and often have better views:

Hains Point. Not far from Tidal Basin, this area has the Yoshino trees as well as brighter Kwanzan trees for a lovely bloom of light and darker pink.
U.S. Capitol. Perhaps the most photographed spot during the National Cherry Blossom Festival, you can see a number of trees at the Lower Senate Park.
National Arboretum. A favorite among visitors, the National Arboretum offers a variety of cherry trees including a stunning weeping willow tree. You can drive, walk, or bike through the area and explore.
Kenwood, Maryland. If you don’t want to deal with the huge crowds, you might want to drive out to the suburbs. The cherry trees in the area were planted in the 1940s to entice new residents, and now you can enjoy the efforts with a nice drive or walk through the area.

After you’ve had your fill of cherry blossoms, there’s still plenty to do at the festival. In fact, there are over 200 family-friendly events and performances. New ones are added to the itinerary every year, but there are a few events that happen consistently every year:

Kite Festival. Fly your kite next to the Washington Monument.
Art in Bloom. Find 20 cherry blossom sculptures around Washington, created by local and national artists.
National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. Watch a spectacular love letter to cherry blossoms full of singing and dancing.
Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival. Learn more about Japanese culture and indulge in traditional Japanese food during this one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the U.S.

Support D.C.’s Cherry Trees

Maintaining all 3,000+ trees isn’t free and requires expert horticulturists and botanists to keep the trees healthy. More than 100 years of wear and tear, increasing foot traffic, and consistent flooding have taken their toll on these beautiful trees. In order to keep these trees healthy, the Trust for the National Mall started the Endow a Cherry Tree Campaign. If you have visited and enjoyed the Cherry Blossom Festival, or even if you haven’t attended yet, you can choose to adopt a cherry tree. Your donation will help support the care and nurturing of a tree all season long. The money is spent on pruning, mulching, fertilizing, and feeding the trees, which will preserve them for generations to come.

Even if you cannot adopt a tree at this moment, you can still make a one-time donation to support the effort. You can also start a fundraising team and collaborate with your peers to reach a goal to endow one or more trees. The goal of the endowment is to raise $3.7 million per year in order to care for all the trees on a yearly basis.

Visit the National Cherry Blossom Festival

There’s no better way to celebrate spring than to enjoy all the beauty that comes with it. The National Cherry Blossom Festival provides one of the most spectacular displays of nature and culture in the United States. Once you’ve soaked up the beauty of the blossoms, there’s so much to do in Washington, D.C., proper that you can easily spend a full week exploring the nation’s capital and visiting some of the best museums, botanical gardens, and zoos in the country.