40th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival
April 14, 2013
Related pages: Festival Program Concert Supporters Festival map
It was a fabulous day: entertainment, food booths, art-related events, activities for children and pets, and lots more. The New Haven Free Public Library will be on hand via the Bookmobile – a first for the Festival. New Haven Museum, which has a History of Wooster Square exhibit opening on May 17, was back, as were Horizon Wings Raptor Rescue and Make A Bracelet – huge hits with kids of all ages. Crowds exceeded 6,000.
Entertainment:
Entertainment included opera, a relatively new addition that first delighted audiences at the 2012 Festival. Tenor Daniel Juarez was back, bringing soprano Jurate Svedaite. Operatic selections from Aida, Tosca, Carmen, and more. Neighborhood Music School's Premier Jazz Ensemble were back, along with the swing band Tuxedo Junction and St. Luke's Steel Band.
Click here to see the full program, including exhibitors, activities and food vendors.
When will the cherry trees bloom? That's the big question every year. At the moment (April 15) we have few few trees already in bloom and the rest in various stages of budding. Most are looking very "pink." Luckly, Wooster Square resident and photographer Bart Connors Szczarba and his wife Cheryl Szczarba keep us up to the minute with their daily Wooster Square Bossom Watch Blog. Check it out.
Getting to the Festival & parking (plan your strategy for for next year)
Wooster Square Park is across from the 500 block of Chapel Street. We encourage Festival attendees to walk, bicycle, or take public transit to this colorful outdoor festival. It’s a 5-10 minute walk from the New Haven Green. Bus transit routes have stops at the Park on Chapel Street and nearby on Grand Avenue and State Street. Limited parking is available on neighborhood streets and in school parking lots: Conte School, off Chapel Street across ftom Fuel, and Metropolitan Business Academy, on Water Street, about a 6-minute walk.
EXTRA SPECIAL ATTRACTION:
The Free Cherry Blossom Concert ...
... was held Friday, April 12 at St Michael's Church on the Wooster Square Park.
This was the 15th annual pre-Festival concert, perfromed by the wonderful musicians of Wooster Sqaure. Click to read about the program and the musicians.
