Cherry Blossoms & Graffiti blooming together!
April 15th, 2018 by Mr. C
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Spring has sprung! Baseball season is here and New Jersey’s 360 acre Branch Brook Park located in Newark & Belleville plays host to the 2018 42nd annual Cherry Blossom Bloomfest! Before I get too enthusiastic, damn was it cold for Bloomfest this year! It was 40 degrees at about 11am but it really felt like below freezing with the wind-chill! The skies looked gloomy and mother nature was ready to open up and downpour with rain at any moment. For those not familiar with the event, Bloomfest is an annual celebration that sets aside a day for folks to admire the more than 5,000 cherry blossom trees waiting to bloom in Branch Brook Park as well as a day to celebrate Japanese culture like Taiko drumming, Samurai sword demonstrations, sushi making, How to Wear a Kimono Demonstration, Ikebana Flower Arrangements, & more!
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(Soh Daiko on the drums!)
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The turnout today for Bloomfest was not at full capacity because of the weather but I do have to take my wig off to the Essex County Cherry Blossom gods & organizers for getting the show on despite the cold and the wind. I think I heard one official say at the event that this was the coldest day on record in the 42 years of Bloomfest! With the Cherry trees in full bloom, Branch Brook Park really is a spectacle to behold! There are so many nooks and crannies of this park that I haven’t even ventured out to yet because the park is just that huge.
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(How to Wear a Kimono Demonstration)
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If you get a chance, I definitely recommend for you to take a stroll in this park. You won’t be able to walk the whole park so just pick an area like at the Cherry Blossom Welcome Center and peruse around the grounds. It’s also awesome to just drive around the perimeter of the park when the trees are blooming with all the colors bleeding and blending into each other. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay long at Bloomfest this year but I did my usual one-two punch combination of Newark’s Cherry Blossom Trees and Graffiti blooming together!
Branch Brook Park
Park Avenue and Lake Street
Newark, NJ 07104
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(Ikebana Flower Arrangement with Ikebana Society)
(Essex County Cherry Blossom Welcome Center)
(nearby Graffiti in full bloom!)
Tags: 2018 bloomfest, bloomfest, branch brook park, drumming, japanese culture, newark, soh daiko, taiko, traditional japanese drumming
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