What is Sakura Matsuri? The BBG calls it "a weekend celebrating traditional and contemporary Japanese culture." It's basically a massive (and I mean massive) festival celebrating cherry blossoms, Japanese culture, the specialness of Brooklyn, and one other thing (which I'll explain in a minute).
I wish I had tons of pics of the festival events to show you, but I couldn't really get close enough to the stage to take any. When I say there were a lot of people, I mean a lot of people. Looks serene, right? Get a little closer and it looks like this:
I get it, lots of other people want to look at the cherry trees too (though a number of them haven't even bloomed yet... I anticipate going back on a quieter day sometime very soon). I roamed around the gardens and took pictures of flowers instead, because that's really what I came for. Flowers 4 Lyfe. Oh, but about that "other thing" I mentioned earlier:
Sakura Matsuri is also a big destination for cosplayers! They have a cosplay fashion show and a couple of of other cosplay-related events, and a lot of people who weren't even participating in the show dressed up. I'm not sure at what point this celebration of traditional Japanese culture got conflated with a cosplay con (including many participants that were dressed in outfits that weren't necessarily inspired by Japanese media), but it's always interesting to see a squadron of Cardcaptor Sakuras and Spidermen traipsing through the tulips on a lovely spring day.
OK, as promised, here's some flower p@rn. Let this be your nature walk if you're stuck inside at work all day (or antipodean and watching your local plants die right now). Listen to this song whilst you virtually stroll. It's not Japanese, but it's appropriate.
(English translation of the title: Cherry Blossom Ending.)
Quick sidebar: What's the proper name of these yellow flowering bushes? We had one in front of our house when I was a kid, but I always just called them "butter trees."
Stan tried to pose for a photo too, but his aim was off.
Back to the nature walk....
And last but not least, something that isn't a flower (but can only happen during Sakura Matsuri in Brooklyn):
Stan-shi! Do not eat.
PS: If you're also in NYC, it's not too late to see the cherry blossoms. The Sakura Matsuri festival is over, but there are still quite a few trees on the BBG map that have yet to bloom. Won't you stalk it with me?
HAPPY SPRING!
This sounds amazing! I'm going to be in NYC this coming weekend to see my love Darren Criss in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and I was looking for stuff to do Friday morning to kill time (the show isn't until Saturday night). I wish I could have seen the Sakura Matsuri event but I still think it'll be really cool to walk around and see the flowers. Pete and I will definitely have to check this out! Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeletethose bushes are forsythia!
ReplyDeleteLove the first pic of you with the flowers haha. Thanks for sharing all these beautiful pictures!
ReplyDelete/swoon Flower porn just does it for me!
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks! Hope the flowers brightened your day somewhat.
ReplyDeleteMe too! My building's "garden" is a big old slab of concrete, so I'll take nice flower pictures whenever I can get them.
ReplyDeleteI love botanical gardens! Looks like you had a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely flower pix! Loved looking at them, so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNot sure about Stansushi though, maybe a bit of wasabi and soy sauce on him would change my mind!
Me too! Back when I used to travel a lot, I would always visit botanical gardens in different places. They're so relaxing.
ReplyDeleteI think Stansushi would scream if I put wasabi on him, but maybe soy sauce would be OK. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely glorious photos. The map of the cherry trees is incredibly cool. I'm thinking I need to take a trip to New York just to visit the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Well, I could stop and say hello to my brother and his family as well, I suppose (they're on Long Island).
ReplyDelete"Sorry bro, I only had time to visit the trees." BBG is pretty darn lovely - we actually just became members! I anticipate much additional tree and flower gazing in my future.
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! I'll have to make note of the Sakura Matsuri Festival if I'm ever in NYC during spring time. I've only ever visited NYC in the summer and winter, but now I have a reason to visit during spring!
ReplyDeleteThe random sushi thing is awesome.
There are lots of parts of NYC that look really beautiful in the spring. Summer is probably my favorite season for actual festivals and activities and stuff, but the humidity can be killer.
ReplyDeleteSuch pretty pictures! Cherry blossoms are never not overwhelmingly gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll share photos of the flowers you gaze at in the future. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't not agree! ;)
ReplyDeleteThe BBG bloom map tells me that most of the rest of the trees bloomed this week - I MUST GO GAZE.
ReplyDelete