Cherry Blossom Festival, Part 1

This past Saturday and Sunday was the first weekend of the annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival that is held in San Francisco's Japantown.  The NCCBF is a festival celebrating traditional Japanese culture, but also the history and lifestyles of the large Japanese American community.  It is held over two weekends in April, just around the time that cherry blossoms are in bloom.

There are many scheduled events that showcase different facets of Japanese culture, such as taiko, martial arts demonstrations, Ikebana, traditional music and dances, etc...

Unfortunately, Sunday ( the day I attended )  was washed out by a heavy rainstorm.  Many of the activities, such as a show by the San Francisco Taiko Dojo and the appearance of the Cherry Blossom Queen and Court was moved from the main Peace Plaza Stage to a much smaller makeshift stage that was assembled in the East Mall.  It was very cramp in there and the lighting was not very good so the photos that I took did not come out good at all.

2010 Cherry Blossom Princesses: left to right: Corey Fujioka, Kiyomi Tanaka, Ayae Yamamoto

2010 Cherry Blossom Queen  Arisa Hiroi (left), 1st Princess Ashley Nakatani (right)

Normally, during Cherry Blossom Festival, the Japantown Peace Plaza would be filled with people.  The heavy rainstorm  dramatically affected the attendance during the first weekend.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate during the second weekend, especially on the final day for the Grand Parade through the streets of Japantown.