Sakura Sunday

Today was Sakura Sunday, Philadelphia's Cherry Blossom Festival at the Horticultural Center in Fairmount Park. The cherry trees were in full bloom, and the predicted afternoon showers held out. I had never been to the cherry blossom festival, but it was a terrific, very well-attended event. Bryn and I arrived about 15 minutes before the Taiko drummers were scheduled to start, so we were able to scope out a good, unobstructed spot right in front of the stage. Bryn had never seen taiko drummers before, but she seemed really interested in the preformance despite how loud it was -- we could feel the reverbations of every drum beat. After the 11 drummers' first set, we then enjoyed the performance of a Japanese dance troupe. Surprisingly, I never saw Japanese dance when I lived there a decade ago. The dancers were Bryn's favorite part of the festival. The taiko drummers performed a second set, this time disguised in all black and expressive masks (see picture below). Bryn wasn't so sure how she should respond to the masks with their esxpressions ranging from silly to sad. But she hung in there and was attentive for the full 45-minute performance of the drummers and dancers. The show was absolutely terrific, and it brought back for me a wave of wanting either to revisit Japan or to experience again what it's like to submerge oneself in another country and its culture. Maybe Singapore will be our next opportunity? After the performance, Bryn and I stopped at a booth where she made a durable kite and then another station where we did our best to make an origami giraffe. All in all, we were at the festival for two and a half hours, and we would have stayed longer if I didn't have to use the bathroom. (The only option was port-a-potties.) Next year I'd like to tour the Japenese house and garden -- the line was too long -- and enjoy some of the Japanese food -- the concession line was even longer.