Cherry Blossom Festival

Well, the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin were in full bloom the end of last month, and most of the petals have pretty much fallen off by now, but yesterday morning was the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade followed by the street festival that blocked off several blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House and a few adjacent streets. Robert and I happened upon the street festival by accident, having espied it from atop the new Newseum on the Capitol end of Penn, so we walked the nearly-mile down the street to see what it was. After all, the one thing these street festivals usually have is fun and interesting food!

They had Japanese bands playing animé music, some traditional cultural groups, and various forms of martial artists performing on four or five big stages around the area. One large tent was devoted to playing video games. There was a huge section of food booths and two large beer gardens, plus a block or so of various booths with organizations, information, and the occasional merchandise vendor. Lots of obviously not Asian people were running around in geis, kimonos, and Japanese themed t-shirts, while most of the people who looked Asian were in American clothes or Western European techno clothes. It seemed fun, but it had been a long day and we didn't stay long. I snapped a few pictures just cause.