By Aicha Bangoura
This past week, University of Maryland students immersed themselves in Washington D.C.’s National Cherry Blossom Festival. The annual event for cherry blossoms began on March 20 and has since attracted a lot of attention from visitors and locals.
The festival, located around the Tidal Basin and near the National Mall, celebrates the peak bloom of the cherry blossoms every spring season. This event took the nation by storm this year as many people including former President Barack Obama attended.
The festival features activities such as the Blossom Kite Festival, Petalpalooza, a celebration that brings art, music, and play to multiple outdoor stages along the Anacostia River, and blossom viewings and cultural performances, including showcases of Japanese music and dance. The Blossom Kite festival offers crafts and activities where people have the opportunity to create and fly their own kites.
Celia Salazar-Walker, a freshman psychology major, worked in a booth at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum during the kite festival. Although she didn’t get to bask in the cherry blossom trees to the fullest, she particularly enjoyed stumbling across parents and kids making kites outdoors.
Salazar-Walker said that the cherry blossoms on campus aren’t as appealing to ones in Washington, D.C. as they’re lacking flowers at the moment.
“The ones at D.C., I think they’re also just incubated a little better,” she said.
The festival earned $202 million in visitor spending, breaking The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority records, according to ABC News. March 29 was the second busiest Saturday ever since 2019, with 710,000 people riding the metro.
Taking the metro was the most convenient way for the public to navigate the city and avoid parking trouble, according to the National Cherry Blossom Festival website. UMD students were among visitors who used this method to get to the Tidal Basin this year.
Olivia Bourne, a sophomore graphic design major, attended the festival on the inaugural opening with friends and said that the metro station was packed on the way there, but she had no issues with seats or getting back home. Bourne was there for about four hours and walked the Tidal Basin Loop Trail.
“It was really busy, but I knew that going into it so I just took the crowds in stride,” Bourne said.
With this being Bourne’s first time attending the festival, she explained it was all worth it.
“Maybe next year I would visit some smaller kind of off-the-main-path places, but it was fun,” Bourne said.
In comparison to the campus cherry blossoms, Bourne thinks the ones in Washington D.C. have a greater impact for visitors.
“I think the ones in D.C. have more of an effect cause there’s so many of them and on campus there’s like one or two,” she said.
Marquaya Green, a freshman psychology major, went with a friend to appreciate the scenery and get some photos of the cherry blossoms. Although she enjoyed seeing them, she encouraged people to remember that allergy season comes along with the natural beauty of the blossoms.
“I’d recommend taking allergy meds if you have allergies definitely before going,” Green said.
Green took public transportation, and said taking the metro bus to the festival wasn’t too packed, but they ran into some crowds on the way back to College Park.
“We had to stand up for our last ride,” Green said.
Green believes the cherry blossoms growing on campus are similar compared to the ones in Washington, D.C.
“They’re just as pretty, it’s just not a lot of them at the same spot,” Green said. “You could take pictures here, but if you want a bunch at the same spot and a bunch around you, go to ones at D.C.”
The Peak Bloom ended on April 1 due to rain storms, according to Washington Top News, but the National Cherry Blossom Festival will conclude on April 13 in Washington, D.C.
Featured Image: A cherry blossom tree in full bloom on UMD’s campus. Photo by Aicha Bangoura