Even with the cherry blossoms still tucked away, this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival remained an impressive display of Japanese culture.
Chairperson of the Nelson Miyazu Sister City Association, Lyndal McMeeking, says there were more than 2000 at the festival, which was more than anticipated.
The Nelson Cherry Blossom Festival was created to celebrate the Nelson-Miyazu sister city relationship and to observe the coming of the cherry blossoms, a traditional spring festival in Japan. The festival also raises awareness of the Japanese culture in Nelson, a city that over 100 Japanese families call home.
The Nelson-Miyazu sister city relationship has been alive for 39 years, the second longest sister city relationship between a Japanese city and a New Zealand city. “One of the highlights was an extra long performance by the Raijin Taiko Drumming group. It was very well supported and people really enjoyed it, and as a result the Raijin group got 30 people signed up for a Taiko drummng workshop,” says Lyndal.
Other attractions included plenty of Japanese food, demonstrations of both Kendo and Aikido and big brush calligraphy from Akiko Crowther.
