Cherry Blossom Time-lapse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden from Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Vimeo.

Visit Brooklyn’s pink paradise before it’s gone

By Sarah Emily Gilbert

In celebration of Earth Week 2016, Urban Agenda Magazine is highlighting the best nature-inspired events in the greater metropolitan area. Today, we bring you the pink paradise that pops up in New York each April: The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens’ (BBG) Cherry Blossom. The BBG is home to thousands of cherry blossoms in flowering varieties that come to life during their annual Hanami: Cherry Blossom Viewing. Flower viewing, known as Hanami, is an ancient Japanese custom held throughout Japan at the height of cherry blossom season to celebrate spring. BBG brings this tradition to New York each year by providing the public with the opportunity to appreciate the transient beauty of spring.   Guided tours of the blossoming trees are available each Wednesday during the April viewing season.

The month-long celebration peaks with BBG’s Sakura Matsuri, which translates into “cherry blossom festival.” On Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1, from 10am to 6pm, the Garden will host a myriad of Japanese performances, workshops, and cultural happenings. The highlights for BBG’s 35^th annual Sakura Matsuri include an origami master’s Colossal Origami demonstration (featuring nine-foot sheets of paper), an insect home-building workshop for kids, and a performance by the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York. For more information about the event, visit http://www.bbg.org.

© Brooklyn Botanic Garden

© Brooklyn Botanic Garden