A Spring Extravaganza: Cherry Blossom Festival in The Nation’s Capital

As the calendar flips to early spring, one long-standing tradition that dates back more than 100 years comes to the minds of many: The National Cherry Blossom Festival in the nation’s capital. Each spring the Tidal Basin comes alive with bursts of color as these trees bloom. Where did the cherry blossoms originate and how long has the festival been in existence? 

The cherry trees were a friendly gift from the people of Japan in 1912. While the cherry blossoms have only been in Washington, D.C., for 109 years now, they have been a staple of the Japanese culture for centuries. In 1885, writer and diplomat Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore returned from Japan and approached the U.S. Army Superintendent of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds with a proposition. Her idea was to plant Japanese cherry trees along the Potomac waterfront but it was turned down.

It wasn’t until 1906 when Dr. David Fairchild with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, imported 75 cherry trees and 25 single-flowered weeping types from a nursery company in Japan. He first planted the trees on his own property in nearby Chevy Chase and they successfully bloomed. Dr. Fairchild then gave cherry saplings to children from each Washington, D.C., school to plant in the schoolyard on Arbor Day, a day observed in the spring to encourage tree planting. The idea caught on and late in 1909, 2,000 cherry trees arrived in Seattle that were then transported to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, these trees were infested with insects, so the Department of Agriculture demanded the trees be destroyed.  

The fight to bring the cherry trees to the U.S. didn’t end in 1909. The mayor of Tokyo wanted to donate a new batch of trees to the U.S. The cherry trees, aboard the S.S. Awa Maru, arrived in Washington on March 26, 1912. The very next day First Lady Helon Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted two Yoshino cherry trees about 125 feet away from what is now Independence Avenue, and the first lady gave Chinda a bouquet of “American Beauty” roses. From here, the National Cherry Blossom Festival became a Washington tradition to celebrate the anniversary of the cherry trees being given to the U.S. by citizens of Japan during the Taft administration! 

A Cherry Blossom pageant was added to the festivities in 1940. Unfortunately, the festival hit a road block in the early 1940s when World War II forced the festival to be cancelled for several years. When the festival resumed in 1948, officials decided to crown a Cherry Blossom queen going forward for each festival. From a pool of Cherry Blossom Princesses selected from each State of the Union and each federal territory, a queen was selected.  

Later in 1954, the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. gave Washington a 300-year-old Japanese Stone Lantern as a gift marking the 100th anniversary of the first Treat of Peace, Amity and Commerce between the U.S. and Japan. The lighting of this lantern marks the beginning of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  

Through the years, additional donations have become part of the festival tradition. This includes the donated Mikimoto Pearl Crown that the National Cherry Blossom Festival Queen wears for a few moments the night of the Grand Ball. The Japanese Pagoda, which is visible on the southwest bank of the Tidal Basin, was given as a gift in 1958. Not to be outdone, the Japanese Government donated another 3,800 Yoshino trees in the mid-1980s! 

It is expected to be the most colorful along the Tidal Basin, with most of the cherry blossoms in full bloom as the months transition from March to April this year! Usually, the most vibrant color only lasts about a week, so be sure to follow their progression online or safely in person, so you don’t miss out!  
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Story Image: The Tidal Basin surrounded by cherry blossoms during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 2010. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)