This celebration of spring commemorates the planting of 72 Yoshino Japanese Cherry Blossom trees in 1973 by the New Haven Historic Commission in cooperation with the New Haven Parks Department. The festival has grown from a modest event with a local band entertaining a handful of neighbors under lighted trees to a major New Haven event that draws well over 1,000 visitors.
14TH ANNUAL CHAMBER CONCERT onFriday Evening, April 8
at St. Paul & St. James Episcopal Church featured the musicians of Wooster Square: members of local and regional ensembles and music school faculty and performers who reside in the area.
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For an extensive slide show of the Festival events, speakers and visitors, compliments of Chris Randall, Executive Director of New Haven Land Trust, just click here. Thank you, Chris!
Cherry tree
planting Read New Haven Urban Resources Initiative's March 2011 report
and recommendations on managing the trees
Make-A-Bracelet
All Things Cherry table
"Slackliner" performance
EXHIBITORS
Anthony Riccio (www.anthonyriccio.com) will be signing copies of his new book is "Cooking with Chef Silvio: Stories and Authentic Recipes from Campania." Chef Silvio Suppa (Chef Silvio's of Wooster Street: www.chefsilvios.com) will be with him since the book is a culinary memoir of his life and how he learned the secrets of southern Italian cooking from his grandmother on the farm in southern Italy.
Some cherry blossom history: Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) has been a Japanese custom since the 7th century when the aristocrats enjoyed looking at beautiful sakura (cherry trees) and wrote poems. Sakura is a symbol of Japan, and it's said that there are over 400 varieties of cherry trees in Japan. The most popular kind of sakura which can be viewed everywhere in Japan is somei-yoshino (Yedoensis). Japanese cherry trees do not yield fruits like other cherry trees.
