A festival in Harlem will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the cherry blossoms in Sakura Park
The April 14 festival commemorates the 1912 planting of 2,000 cherry blossom trees, a gift from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York
It’s springtime in Harlem and — as they do every year — the cherry blossoms have bloomed.
But later this month, the cherry blossom trees in Sakura Park on W. 122nd St. and Riverside Dr. will turn 100.
The trees were planted in Harlem’s Claremont Park — now known as Sakura Park — as a gift from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York on April 28, 1912. Sakura means cherry blossom in Japanese.
To commemorate the gift of the 2,000 cherry blossom trees, a Sakura Cherry Blossom Festival will be held in the Harlem park on April 14 at 11 a.m.
“It’s part of Harlem’s history,” said festival producer Voza Rivers. “It’s one of those gems of our community that we didn’t know about.”
Rivers added many parkgoers admire the cherry blossoms, but they have no clue about the history of the trees.
“We all appreciate these beautiful trees, but we don’t know how they got here,” said Rivers, who is the executive producer of the New Heritage Theater Group, which is putting on the festival.
The trees were donated to the city, Rivers said, as a physical symbol of natural beauty and international peace and friendship.
“This is a very unique partnership,” Rivers said, adding the festival will also include speakers and performers from the Japanese community.
He said more cherry blossom trees, courtesy of the Japanese government, will also be planted at the festival.
Rivers is also seeking support to replace a steel plaque that is missing from the park. The plaque, which can’t be tracked down, commemorated the gift.
In addition, Rivers said there are plans to create an additional plaque to celebrate the centennial celebration.
“It’s an extremely important bit of history,” Rivers said. “It may become an annual event.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/a-festival-harlem-celebrate-100th-anniversary-cherry-blossoms-sakura-park-article-1.1056879#ixzz1rMUwpXAf