Sakura Matsuri is Japanese for Cherry Blossom Festival. This event is held outside on Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues rain or shine, and it rained heavily on Saturday. A lot of merchandise was soaked as pools of water flooded off the tents onto anime plushies. This did not deter vendors or attendees from coming back the next day to exchange currency for happiness.
The event closes off the month-long celebration of 1912’s gift of cherry trees from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. It runs concurrent and directly next to the National Cherry Blossom Festival’s parade which begins at the National Archives museum.
There are three main stages for music, demonstrations, cultural performances, and K-pop/J-pop. Tents played host to sword, staff, and other martial arts. Vendors consisted of the popular Hello Kitty Cafe truck, Otakon, Awesomecon, Katsucon, Miryokucon, Blerdcon, Japanese language tents, Japanese travel plans, Japanese scholarships and exchange programs, and more.
