One of the sure fire signs that spring is near are the blooming cherry blossoms trees scattered all throughout Vancouver. While the full Cherry Blossom Festival is not taking place in 2010, there are a number of other ways to celebrate. Launched March 4th, citizens can participate in the 2010 Haiku Invitational by writing a haiku about cherry blossoms until May 31st, or on April 17th, they can participate in the breathtaking ‘Bike the Blossoms’ to experience Vancouver’s unique areas. Check out this neat map.
Vancouver 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival: Birthday Blossoms
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival and the David and Dorothy Lam Foundation are giving citizens the opportunity to enjoy and participate in Vancouver’s 125th birthday celebration on April 6, 2011 by planting an ornamental cherry tree. From now until early next year, citizens can reserve a ‘Birthday Blossoms’ tree for $30 for themselves or as a gift, with proceeds supporting the initiative to preserve 36,000 cherry trees that help make our city unique and beautiful. The limited supply of 3,000 trees set to be planted all over the city on private property, school grounds and company lawns.
As another way to encourage more participants, the ‘Birthday Blossoms’ can be bought for Mother’s Day, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, or any other joyous occasions, not just birthdays. The trees are growing beautifully now in the Nursery and will be available for pick up from GardenWorks next April 2011. The underlying purpose is to bring the community together, not just through planting the cherry trees, but through an appreciation of the beauty surrounding our city.
To order your tree: http://www.vcbf.ca/birthdayblossom/birthday-blossoms
Vancouver 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival: Haiku Invitational
While the full Cherry Blossom Festival is not taking place in 2010, in addition to ‘Birthday Blossoms’, there are a number of ways to celebrate. The 2010 Haiku Invitational encourages both budding and seasoned poets to join other poets from around the world to honour our awe-inspiring cherry trees by writing a haiku on the theme of cherry blossoms. Call for entries is now open today, with the deadline being 31st May, 2010. Winners will be announced in Fall and the top five poems will be featured on TransLink transportation throughout Metro Vancouver (for more information, please visit www.vcbf.ca/haiku/haiku-invitational-2010).
Vancouver 2010 Cherry Blossom Festival: Bike The Blossoms
The grand finale is Bike the Blossoms on April 17th, which celebrates its third year of providing a breathtaking tour of Vancouver by bike from Vanier Park to Commercial Drive, allowing cyclists to experience all of city’s unique areas; cultural, seasonal and urban. The length of the route will also be a celebration of the city and culture with music, performers and light refreshments. Register with the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition at www.greatrides.ca
If you happen to take some photos of the cherry blossoms around Vancouver, please feel free to add it to the Vancity Buzz Flickr Pool. Who knows I might just use them one day…
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