Awesome Blossom
Philadelphia’s annual cherry blossom
festival celebrates its 10th anniversary
The City of Brotherly Love welcomes spring, Japanese style,
under a canopy of pink and white at the annual Subaru Cherry
Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia, April 9– 22.
Every year since the festival’s formation in 1998, the Japan
America Society of Greater Phila-
delphia has planted 100 cherry
trees in Fairmount Park, enlarging
Japan’s gift of 1,600 trees to the
city in 1926. And this year, the
1,000th cherry tree will be planted.
The two-week festival (jasgp.
org/sakura) highlights Japanese
culture in a series of events,
including: Japanese Culture
Week at Liberty Place (April 9– 13)—Catch one of the free
performances and demonstrations of traditional Japanese
arts in the Liberty Place Rotunda.
The International Sake Tasting Festival of Greater Phila-
delphia (April 11)—Visitors can sample sake from Japan’s top
brewers, paired with dishes from local restaurants.
Sakura Sunday (April 15)—Picnic under the blossoms at this
all-day event at Fairmount Park, featuring martial arts demon-
strations, origami, kite-making workshops, a tea ceremony and
taiko drumming (above).
Sushi Spectacular (April 16)—Japanese master sushi chefs
prepare ornate sushi creations that will impress both first-
timers and die-hard sashimi fans.
The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival Gala (April 21)—The
highlight of this elegant, black-tie affair at Philadelphia Muse-
um of Art is the kagami biraki sake barrel-breaking ceremony.
MORE
FLOWER
POWER
The National
Cherry Blossom
Festival
Washington, D.C.
March 31–April 15
The nation’s largest
cherry blossom fes-
tival marks its 95th
celebration of the
city of Tokyo’s gift of
3,000 cherry trees to
the people of Washing-
ton (nationalcherry
blossomfestival.org).
Rock ...
Then Roll
Loving those golden oldies no longer
means having to party like it’s 1969.
Thanks to Crosley’s CR248 Song-
writer ($399.95, crosleyradio.com),
converting vinyl albums and cas-
settes to CD is a song and dance. The
three-speed, belt-driven turntable,
molded in the likeness of a classic
wood-paneled, hinge-top set, is per-
fectly capable of playing CDs or re-
cords directly or converting treasured
classics onto standard discs.
Transfer your collection and take
it along on your next trip. Mount the
device on a desk or bookshelf and add
character to any room. Or, just kick
back and tune into AM/FM radio broad-
casts using a digital receiver, 20-track
programmable memory and stunning
LCD display. It’s a great way to archive
old stacks of disco- and Motown-era
favorites while waxing nostalgic to the
sounds of all-time greats like Stevie
Wonder and Smokey Robinson. Note:
We second that emotion.
