BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The cherry blossoms are in full bloom for the 12th year over in Bethlehem.
The 12th annual Cherry Blossom Festival takes place Saturday, March 28 from noon to 4 p.m.
The annual festival celebrates the culture of Bethlehem’s Japanese sister city, Tondabayashi, according to the event website. Tomoe Sato-san from the Consulate-General of Japan in New York will give opening remarks at the festival.
Admission, as well as most of the festival’s activities, is free. Activities include origami and calligraphy. Food, drinks, and Tea Ceremony tickets are available for purchase for $1.
Parking is available for free on N. New Street and West Church Street for the entire day of the festival.
Bethlehem-Tondabayashi Sister City Commission Chair and Tea Master John Rivera said cherry blossoms in the area are starting to pop out. He said the event in part aims to promote Japanese culture.
Rivera said that in Japanese culture spring is considered a sacred season that shows peoples’ change from what they once were during winter to who they are looking forward into the future.
The event tries to give people that rejuvenation and jumpstart into their spring and summertime, he said.