March 28 – April 12, 2009

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is planned to be the same, as nearly as possible, with the average date of blooming for the trees (April 4).  Exactly when the buds will open is not easy to predict.  It is pretty much impossible to give an accurate forecast much more than 10 days before peak bloom.  National Park Service Horticulturalists monitor five distinct stages of bud development and provide timely forecasts and updates.

The peak bloom date is defined as the day on which 70% of the blossoms of the Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin are open.  This date varies from year to year, depending on weather conditions.

During the blooming period, The National Park Service conducts annual “Cherry Tree” walks and bike tours around the Tidal Basin.  

History of the Gift of Trees 1912-2009

The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrating the continued close relationship between our two cultures.

In a small ceremony on march 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees from Japan on the north bank of the Tidal Basing in West Potomac Park.  In 1915, the United states Government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan.  The First “festival” was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the Nation’s Capital.

First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965.  In 1981 , the circle of giving came back when Japanese horticulturist were given cutting from our trees to replace some cherry trees in Japan which hand been destroyed in a flood.

The Festival was stretched in to two weeks in 1994 to accommodate a divers activity schedule during the trees’ blooming period.  Today, more than a million people visit Washington DC each year to admire the blossoming cheery trees and attend events that herald the beginning of spring in the Nation’s Capital.

For more information on the Cherry Blossom Festival and dates of events go to www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org

While you are here in DC walking the Tidal Basin please do not pick the blossoms.  Picking the blossoms or branches of the historic trees is very damaging.  Please respect the park and leave the blossoms for the next generation to enjoy too.