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Cherry Jam Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry Jam Downtown Concert

The 12th annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off today with a noon-hour concert at the Burrard skytrain station in Vancouver.

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Tetsu Taiko started the show, accompanied by Alcvin Ramos. The performance was amazing, very high in energy.

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The performance was followed by an original collaboration of Chinese er-hu player Ji Rong Huang with a tap dancer.

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The Cherry Jam concert host read the 2017 Haiku Invitational winning poems including:

the gasp
before the sigh . . .
cherry blossoms

Terri L. French
Huntsville, Alabama

VCBF Haiku Invitational 2017 Winner (United States)

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Kathryn Nicholson lead the Sound Eclectic Vocal Ensemble. The choir performed “Cherry Blossoms For You & Me!” a new song inspired by a haiku by poet laureate Oz Hershfield created especially for the Vancouver Sings One Song event. I’m sure we’ll have the chance to hear it again during the festival and sing it together.

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At the end of the concert, VCBF Director Linda Poole invited people to check the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival website for more information about the many activities (big picnic, tree talks and walks, Sakura illuminations, etc.) and wished everybody a good festival.

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It was a quite a rainy day in Vancouver.  Luckily, the exhibitors tables were in a covered area.

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Due to the rain, it was pretty quiet under the canopy.  Where you would usually find dozens of photographers and a crowd of people admiring cherry blossoms, there were only a few people hanging under the cherry trees.

Burrar skytrain station blossoms

The reason there were so few people under the canopy was clear when you got closer. Turns out half the pathway was flooded. The petals were floating in four inches of water!

Burrard canopy Burrard floating blossoms

For those who were not afraid to brave the rain today, the blossoms were there.

Burrar skytrain station blossoms wet petal

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival will take place from April 3-29, 2018. Check vcbf.ca for information about the festival activities. Happy Cherry Blossom Viewing!

Burrar skytrain station blossoms

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Cherry Jam Merchandise Photos Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry Jam concert at Burrard skytrain

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off today with the Cherry Jam, a free concert held at the Burrard skytrain station in downtown Vancouver.

This year, several artists teamed up to offer a multidisciplinary experience: The Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra performed first, then stayed on stage to accompany two dancers and a Japanese singer.

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Chinese musician Ji Rong Huang played the er-hu while Dayna Szyndrowski performed tap dancing. I was blown away that someone had thought of mixing these two different art forms together. And they worked perfectly!

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Japanese artist Yayoi Hirano from Yayoi Theatre Movement performed haiku in mime while accompanied by the flute music of Holly Burke. (No pictures, but I took a video.)

Vancouver Okinawa Taiko group closed the show with powerful drumming and dancing.

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All performances were wonderful and memorable!

Festival volunteers at the VCBF table were handing out the 2016 Cherry Blossom guide which you can also find in this week’s The Vancouver Courier Newspaper and WE | The Westender.

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Spring came early, so all cherry blossom were gone at the Burrard skytrain station, but there was a birthday blossom tree at one of the kiosks, so I was able to take pictures of the blossoms.

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Akebono cherry trees are losing their petals, but there are plenty of cherry blossoms elsewhere in the city: Shirotae, beni-shidare, and soon Kanzan will bloom.  Are you ready to celebrate spring?

Don’t go cherry blossom viewing without these essential items: the VCBF guide, a cherry petal mat and a guide to Ornamental Cherries in Vancouver.

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Happy Cherry Blossom Viewing!