The festival theme kanji is "sakaeru" which represents returning and flourishing as a festival and community.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The 55th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival (NCCBF) is coming back in person on the weekends of April 9-10 and 16-17, 2022 from 11a-6p. We are honored to be one of California's most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions and the largest Cherry Blossom Festival in the West Coast. Based in one of three remaining Japantowns in the United States, our Festival symbolizes the arrival of spring and cherry blossoms in San Francisco.
Since 1968, the NCCBF has served to cultivate a strong alliance between Japan and the United States, to showcase the vibrant colors and grace of Japanese culture, and to represent the diversity of our Japantown community. The festival audience has grown considerably for the past 55 years, typically hosting more than 220,000 guests over the course of two weekends.
In April 2020, we canceled the in-person Festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the safety of attendees and participants, transitioned to a Virtual "Blossom in Place '' Festival for the last two years. The Virtual Festival livestream showcased performers, exhibitors, and non-profit organizations to viewers around the world. The 2022 Festival will be our first festival in person since 2019.
The 2022 Festival's theme is 栄える(Sakaeru), meaning to come back, flourish as a community and festival. The tagline is "Springing Forward." It takes its cue from the poster's frog. In Japanese, Ka-e-ru is frog and they always spring forward. As for the meaning of this year's Kanji, the top of the kanji is light and the bottom represents a tree. Therefore, for a tree to flourish and become strong it needs strong light, like that of the sun.
Unfortunately, we will not have a parade this year but we will be bringing back Arts & Crafts Vendors, Food booths and a stage at Japantown's Peace Plaza featuring cultural performances. Also, we will be welcoming back our non-profit partners to the festival. The festival footprint will include vendors on Post St., food booths on Webster Street and utilizing Japan Center Malls for Tea Ceremony, Ikebana(Japanese flower arranging), Bonsai and others.
We look forward to connecting with our attendees while adhering to social distancing.
Visit NCCBF at nccbf.org, Facebook @nccbf, Instagram @nc_cbf, and Twitter @nc_cbf for the latest updates.
Media Contact
Greg Viloria, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, +1 (408) 316-8349, [email protected]
Matt Nagatomi, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, [email protected]
SOURCE Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
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