“there is no stranger under the cherry tree” Kobayashi Issa, 1763 – 1827
Community Events at a glance
For a full schedule and complete details, visit www.vcbf.ca
Sakura Night > Sunday, March 30
6:30pm: Cherry Blossom Martini Welcome 7-9pm: Standing Dinner Reception
Tojo’s Restaurant, 1133 W Broadway
An extraordinary dining experience to celebrate Spring, hosted by Tojo’s Restaurant, featuring sensational Japanese cuisine created by Tojo’s Restaurant (Hidekazu Tojo) • Zen Japanese Restaurant (Nobu Ochi) • RawBar at Fairmont Pacific Rim (Takayuki Omi) • Seventeen89, (Daryle Nagata) • Miku Restaurant (Kazuya Matsuoka), Zakkushi (Masahito Iwamoto) and special Sakura gelato by Bella Gelataria (James Coleridge)!! Guests will be welcomed with taiko and walk into the elegant Japanese ambience of Tojo’s, illuminated with cherry blossom video projection.
Plein-Air Blossom Painting
April 5, 12, 19, 26, 11am – 2pm
VanDusen Botanical Garden
meet inside Visitor’s Centre, 5151 Oak Street
This April give yourself the luxury of taking time out every Saturday to relax, be encircled by the beauty of cherry blossoms, paint, and enjoy an incredible sense of accomplishment.
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced artist, come join Alfonso Tejada, Sandrine Pelissier and Elizabeth Harris for four, three-hour Saturday sessions. For Plein Air sessions, meet inside the Visitor’s Centre, and then explore exquisite locations in the 55 acre garden with 20 varieties of cherry trees.
Individual classes are $55, all four classes for $195 (includes Garden admission).
Week 1 with Alfonso Tejada: Watercolour
Week 2 with Sandrine Pelissier: Studio artist introduction to plein-air and colour exploration with pink
Week 3 with Elizabeth Harris: Oils and acrylics
Week 4 with Alfonso Tejada: Sketching in your preferred medium (ink, pen watercolour, pastel etc.). Work freely in the garden and simply capture what you see and feel without aiming for perfection. Alfonso will be assisting and demonstrating how to play with the media regardless of your skill levels.
Haiku Invitational
March 1 – June 2 > Online
The 2014 Haiku Invitational will accept up to two unpublished poem submissions (in English only) from each individual, online from March 1 to June 2, 2014. The theme is “Meet your neighbours.” Haiku poet Kobayashi Issa wrote: “Under the cherry tree there is no stranger” and we’d like you to tell us, in your haiku, the many ways cherry blossoms bring you closer to your family, your friends, your community and co-workers. Celebrate with a Cherry Blossom Picnic (or hanami, which means “flower viewing”) and write haiku with your friends!
VCBF is launching a new Vancouver category in 2014. Poets from the Metro Vancouver area can submit your haiku to this new category.
Top poems in six main categories (Vancouver, BC, Canada, United States, International and Youth) will be judged by Marco Fraticelli, receive celebrity readings and be featured in creative ways during the 2015 festival including publication in the Vancouver Courier community newspaper, The Bulletin magazine, Haiku Canada newsletter, online publication in Ripples, the newsletter of the Haiku Society of America, printing in a chapbook hand-folded and bound by Victoria-based Leaf Press and publication on the VCBF website. Winning poems will be read by Christopher Gaze at the VSO’s Tea & Trumpets Concert, at our media-kickoff event, Cherry Jam Downtown concert by media celebrity emcee (past years have been CTV’s Norma Reid) and celebrated at Sakura Days Japan Fair (attended by 12,000 people over two days).
We encourage both budding and seasoned poets to join other poets from around the world in honouring our awe-inspiring cherry trees. The festival welcomes haiku submissions that capture the essence of cherry blossoms while honouring our relationships to each other and the natural world.
Winning Haiku, 2013 Haiku Invitational
Vancouver Cherry Blossom FestivalBritish Columbia
a crow’s nest—
the wind drops
white blossomsJulie Emerson
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada
waiting for the blossoms
the birds are still
up the magician’s sleeveMarco Fraticelli
Pointe-Claire, Quebec
United States
lighting a path
for the cherry blooms
first grade teacherRobert Michael Drouilhet
Picayune, Mississippi
International
this side of winter
tuning the mandolin
to mountain cherryLeah Ann Sullivan
Nagoya, Japan
Youth
a bird bath
under a tree
filled with cherry blossomsIris Liu, age 12
Vancouver, British Columbia
Cherry Jam Downtown Concert
Thursday, April 3, 12noon– 1:30pm
Indoor concourse of Burrard Skytain station
Cherry Jam will showcase performances by the Yayoi Movement Theatre, Folk artist Michael Averill, 2013 Haiku Invitational celebrity readings and Haiku Bard by Christopher Gaze of Bard on the Beach, an energetic dance performance by VanCity Soran and the thunderous sounds of Richmond’s Tetsu Taiko to warm up the scenes of Cherry Jam.
Sakura Days Japan Fair
Saturday & Sunday, April 5 & 6, 10am-5pm
VanDusen Botanical Garden
Bring your friends and family to this fun two-day Japanese event celebrating the cultural arts and age old traditions of Japan. Escape to VanDusen Botanical Garden and experience the special ritual of the Japanese tea ceremony, enjoy Japanese festival food, sample premium sake, guided Tree Talks and Walks to the cherry trees, and enjoy haiku readings. Experience Japan with hands-on workshops and try your hand at ikebana (flower arranging) and calligraphy, and origami and other Japanese arts and crafts demonstrations.Other Sakura Days performances include Japanese classical dance, taiko drumming, the Cherry Blossom Dance, soothing tones of shakuhachi (bamboo flute), martial arts performances, anime, the Kid’s Tent and more! Come to the new free Cherry Rush tent outside the Visitor’s Centre with our fun photo booth and find out how to celebrate our cherry blossoms!! You will then officially be a member of the Cherry Blossom Fraternity!
Tree Talks & Walks
Eight walks and one talk
beginning Thursday, April 3
Once again, the festival attempts to guess the unpredictable – we schedule walks six months ahead of time, hoping to catch the peak blooming times around the city. Fortunately, these locations all have historical or cultural features of interest in addition to the blossoms, and our leaders will be sure to make the trip worth your while. Cherry Blossom Viewing is a cool sport – please dress for it!
Cherry & heritage walk in Mandarin in Downtown Coal Harbour
April 3, 2014, Thursday, 10:00am to noon
Tree Talks and Walks West End and Stanley Park
April 5, 2014, Saturday, 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Tree Talks and Walks – Oppenheimer Park
April 6, 2014, Sunday, 10:00am to 11:30am
Tree Talks and Walks – VanDusen Botanical Garden
April 6, 2014, Sunday, 1:30pm to 3:00pm
Tree Talk (not a Walk) in the evening: Blossom Biology Workshop
April 10, 2014, Thursday, 7:30pm to 9pm
VanDusen Botanical Garden
Tree Talks and Walks UBC
April 12, 2014, Saturday, 10:00am to 11:30am
Tree Talks and Walks Stanley Park
April 12, 2014, Saturday, 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Tree Talks and Walks Queen Elizabeth Park
April 13, 2014, Sunday, 1:30pm to 3:00pm
Tree Talks and Walks in Mandarin at Larry Berg Flight Path Park, Richmond
April 13, 2014, Sunday, TBC
Tree Talks and Walks Easter Parade
April 20, 2014, Sunday, 1:30pm to 3:00pm
Blossom Bollywood
Saturday, April 12
Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza
Celebrating Spring through Dance!
Learn hip new Bollywood moves this spring with SHIAMAK dancers! Moves will be so easy to learn that no prior rehearsals are required. Get ready to prepare for this Blossom Bollywood Dance Party outdoors with the SHIAMAK Vancouver Dance Team! Performances, contests and much more! All ages are welcome!
World Green City Lecture
April 7, 2 – 4pm
800 Robson Square – Theatre C300
Please join us for an engaging session with international experts in our presentation and discussion session. You will meet representatives from the United Nations Environment Programme’s Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative, UBC Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability and International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment, bringing forward a vision for Vancouver as a World Green City. Our panel of experts will share international initiatives around the way we design and measure our cities, and some of the programs for celebrating success that are already changing how we live together in our communities. Celebrate new ideas, meet new organizations, be inspired by the tremendous positive change that is happening now around the world. Deputy City Manager, Sadhu Johnston, will moderate the lecture. Tickets: $20.00 + tax
BC Blossom Watch Photo Contest
April 3 – 28
Inspired by the cherry blossoms around you? Snap a picture and share it with us.
Email your photo to BCBlossomWatch@vcbf.ca
Tweet or post your photo to instragram using the
#cherryblossomsyvr hashtag
Cherry Blossom Picnic
Sunday, April 13
Flight Path Park, Richmond
Celebrate this spring with a cherry blossom picnic in your neighbourhood using our Cherry Blossom Viewing Google Maps (vcbf.ca/neighbourhood-maps), or be a part of YVR Airport Authority’s picnic in Richmond’s Flight Path Park on Sunday, April 13th for a picnic and tour of our Birthday Blossoms cherry trees on their ninth birthday!
Bike The Blossoms
Saturday, April 26, 11am – 3pm
Meeting at China Creek South Park
Join Velopalooza and the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival for a fun, free guided bike ride – details coming soon.
