A day later than originally planned The National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Opening Ceremony will take place in D. C. Sunday evening.
WASHINGTON — The National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Opening Ceremony will take place in D. C. Sunday evening, a day later than originally planned.
The festival’s opening ceremony will be held between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Warner Theatre on 513 13th Street, NW. All available tickets have now been claimed.
Peak bloom occurs when 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry trees are in bloom.
“With the continued cold temperatures we’re experiencing and a little snow doesn’t help either, we’re now looking at peak bloom occurring sometime between April 8 and April 12,” said National Mall spokesman Mike Litterst. “Historically that puts it about five days after the average peak bloom date, which is April 3.”
This is the second time the parks service has pushed back when it expects peak bloom. The organization originally expected it to happen between March 17 and March 20, but that was pushed back to March 27 and March 31 because of the colder-than-normal weather in March.
Litterst said the one silver lining from the delay is D. C. cherry blossoms could be hitting peak bloom during the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s parade.
Sunday’s National Cherry Blossom Festival’s opening ceremony is billed as showcase of great American and Japanese talent.
Performers include: T. M. Revolution, Akiko Yano and the Shodo Girls from Fukuoka Prefectural Yahata Chuo High School.
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