E and I went to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens . We biked up to Eastern Parkway and chained our bikes to the fence, and we could see a crowd of people around the entryway. There was no line, and we paid our $10 student admission to get in. We made our way across the main lawn and down to the event tent: it was already packed by noon when we got there, with people everywhere chowing down on $14 bento boxes and $6 Kirins, spilling out across the lawn under the cherry trees. Unfortunately the cherry trees had blossomed a week prior, so the ground was littered with sweetly fermenting blossoms but few remained in the trees.
The gardens were beautiful, and we enjoyed trekking across the manicured lawns, through the atriums with bonsai trees and desert plants, and outdoors under the shade of the fragrant trees but the crowds were a pain. There were gorgeous plants of all kinds, including a Harrington plum tree! One building also housed diverse, spectacular, and gravity-defying ikebana displays. Delicate little paths may be visually pleasing, but don't allow enough traffic during such a busy day (especially not one with strollers, walkers, and all kinds of slow-walkers).
The most interesting part of the day, for me, was the dress-up component. Quite a few visitors to the festival dressed up in kimonos or other "Japanese" gear, interpreted to include plaid school-girl outfits, goth, and pimped-out quinceaneara/prom dance/kimono dresses, replete with bustles, wigs, parasols, sandals, high heels, amazing costume jewelry. It seems the Cherry Blossom Festival serves as an occasion to dust off all the crazy stuff in the back of your closet and wear it once a year.
Overall review:
Pros: pretty flowers! being outside after the winter
Cons: overpriced food, crowds of (mostly) tourists
Other photos from visitors via Flickr group here.
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