The Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival became the Nashville Cherry Blossom Japan Relief Event! In light of recent events, many vendors offered to put part or all of their proceeds towards relief efforts in Japan, and there were many ways to donate.
The only foreign consulate here in Tennessee is one for Japan, and we’re proud to have it!
Saturday happened to be a very cold and somewhat rainy day. I only got to go to the event for a couple hours and didn’t get to see many performances (I had been really hoping to see taiko), but I saw that so many people showed up! The event was a great success, as also noted on its Facebook page. By the way, I suggest you check that out, as many people have posted photos there that are better than what I was able to get (though nonetheless I will fill this post up with my pics!). I was happy to have been there! So nice!
I didn’t get many photos (I need to get better at this whole photography thing), but I think the ones I did get capture the spirit of the event. For example…
Cherry blossoms!
Anime fans!
Gatherings!
People in kimono!
Adorable robotic baby seals?!
Performances!
And friends!
I’m glad that we could all come together to help and celebrate Japan, and Japan’s connection to Tennessee! I hope it’s nice and sunny next year.
LOOK AT DEM CHERRY BLOSSOMS
I didn’t even know there were cherry trees in Nashville. I kinda wish there was a similar festival nearby here in Florida. There IS a Japanese museum + garden, but it’s about a four hour drive from where I live. ;__;
There are some cherry trees and LOTS of plum/pear trees. They look SO pretty when spring is in bloom. SO PRETTY.
There must be more Japan-related things around here that aren’t tied to anime that I didn’t know about. I’m looking into it more!