For a short time, parks and streets in Surrey, White Rock and Delta will soon be filled with the white and pink hues of cherry blossoms.
Those beautiful blooms are around for only a couple of weeks every April.
This week, Discover Surrey posted a list of favourite places to see the Japanese flowering trees in Surrey, including Bear Creek Park (13750 88 Ave.), Nico-Wynd Golf Course (3601 Nico-Wynd Place), 95 Avenue at 154 Street, Spenser Drive at 151A Street and 150B Street at 24 Avenue.
These are just some places to see and photograph the flowers before they're gone until next year.
Elsewhere online, a searchable map of Metro Vancouver's best places to see cherry blossoms is posted on Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival's website (vcbf.ca), including sites in Surrey and nearby cities.
The festival opens today (Wednesday) with a Yaletown Pop-Up media preview at Bill Curtis Square, followed Friday (March 28) by the first evening of Blossoms After Dark at David Lam Park in Vancouver, and a Big Picnic on Saturday.
A week later, Public Disco brings a Blossom Block Party to a patio at Bentall Centre (1055 Dunsmuir St.), for a free, all-ages dance event Saturday, April 5, from 2 to 9 p.m. The party promises all-vinyl DJ sets, interactive art and family-friendly activities set against the backdrop of the city’s iconic cherry blossoms.
This year marks a century since the historic introduction of the Ojochin tree to Vancouver and surrounding areas.
In 1925, the mayors of Kobe and Yokohama presented the Vancouver Park Board with 500 trees of the Ojochin variety for planting at the cenotaph in Stanley Park, in honour of Japanese Canadian veterans of the First World War.
Since the first of Vancouver’s 43,000 cherry trees originated as gifts from Japan, "creating a festival in the city seemed like a perfect way to express our gratitude for this generous gift and to celebrate the beauty and joy they bring to everyone," notes a post on the festival's website.
