davidtan
Established
I attended the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden earlier this week. I've been going there since I was a kid, and it's always great fun.
This year's event started with a low note; the unusually warm winter had pushed the cherry blossom bloom a full 2 weeks early. There were no blossoms to be seen, but it was still a very lively festival.
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The festival's a good opportunity for visitors to dress up in Japanese-style clothing. In recent years, you see mostly young people cosplaying as cartoon/comic/game characters. But you still see a few families (usually actual Japanese visitors) coming in yukata:
The BBG itself hosts a variety of events during this two-day festival, including traditional Japanese dancing and singing. These two performers are getting a lift around the garden before their event.
I missed the NY Japanese Folk Dance Institute's hanagasa (flower hat) dance, but I did spot these two performers admiring the bluebells afterwards.
The majority of visitors that day carried a camera.
The festival is a good way for the BBG to get some money; here there is a souvenir booth set up selling Japanese goods.
The BBG was also selling boxed lunches, or bento. I asked this visitor to let me see some of the contents of the lunch.
More dressed-up visitors (though I doubt cogwheels are part of the traditional Japanese decor).
Some patrons set up their own entertainment; this group organized a series of mock swordfights among themselves.
I saw this exact same person last week at Coney Island! Here he has a Fuji GS645S. Maybe he's an RFFer.
Spotted this lady shooting with a Pentacon Six TL.
There was a booth from a local music institute that was letting kids try out various instruments, like this violin.
Some patrons get to go around in a golf cart. It's not a very large garden though.
There was a instructional booth on the game of Japanese Chess, or Shogi.
The booth on the Go boardgame was particularly popular.
An art display by Patrick Dougherty.
This year's event started with a low note; the unusually warm winter had pushed the cherry blossom bloom a full 2 weeks early. There were no blossoms to be seen, but it was still a very lively festival.
----------------------------------------
The festival's a good opportunity for visitors to dress up in Japanese-style clothing. In recent years, you see mostly young people cosplaying as cartoon/comic/game characters. But you still see a few families (usually actual Japanese visitors) coming in yukata:
The BBG itself hosts a variety of events during this two-day festival, including traditional Japanese dancing and singing. These two performers are getting a lift around the garden before their event.
I missed the NY Japanese Folk Dance Institute's hanagasa (flower hat) dance, but I did spot these two performers admiring the bluebells afterwards.
The majority of visitors that day carried a camera.
The festival is a good way for the BBG to get some money; here there is a souvenir booth set up selling Japanese goods.
The BBG was also selling boxed lunches, or bento. I asked this visitor to let me see some of the contents of the lunch.
More dressed-up visitors (though I doubt cogwheels are part of the traditional Japanese decor).
Some patrons set up their own entertainment; this group organized a series of mock swordfights among themselves.
I saw this exact same person last week at Coney Island! Here he has a Fuji GS645S. Maybe he's an RFFer.
Spotted this lady shooting with a Pentacon Six TL.
There was a booth from a local music institute that was letting kids try out various instruments, like this violin.
Some patrons get to go around in a golf cart. It's not a very large garden though.
There was a instructional booth on the game of Japanese Chess, or Shogi.
The booth on the Go boardgame was particularly popular.
An art display by Patrick Dougherty.
