April 5th & 6th as “CHERRY BLOSSOM WEEKEND”
2008 CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
LITTLE TOKYO DISTRICT OF LOS ANGELES
www.cherryblossomfestivalsocal.org
WHAT: CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL SOUTHERN CA
WHEN: Saturday 4/5/08 (10:30am-9=6:30pm) and Sunday 4/6/08 (10:30am-5pm)
WHERE: San Pedro Street between 1st & 3rd; Second Street between Los Angeles & Central
ENTRANCE FEE: FREE
The 7th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival will be held once again in the “Little Tokyo District” of downtown Los Angeles. The festival will be on April 5th and 6th on the streets of Los Angeles on San Pedro Street between 1st and 3rd Street and on 2nd Street between Los Angeles & Central. It is produced by a 100% volunteer team and the event is a free admission to the public. It is supported by private donations and sponsors with over 16,000 attendees in 2007.
Festival includes: MAIN STAGE – Japanese Dancing, Taiko, Kimono Fashion Show (Sat), Runway Fashion Show {Sun), Teacher’s Making a Difference Awards; Senator Daniel Inouye Cherry Blossom Leadership Awards; George Kiriyama Educational Excellence Awards and live stage performances. KIDS ACTIVITY AREA - cultural crafts, storytelling and games; MARTIAL ARTS ARENA - non-stop martial arts performances and demonstrations; HAWAIIAN VILLAGE - Hula and variety of live Hawaiian stage entertainment, crafters and vendors; CULTURAL PAVILION - photo exhibit of WWII Internment Camps, Kimekomi Dolls, Japanese American National Museum, Nisei Stamp Campaign, Sashiko and Shibori Exhibits to name a few; ONDO DANCING IN THE STREETS; CRAFTS, CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL VENDORS and the Cherry Blossom FOOD COURT and the PLAZA STAGE in the Japanese Village Plaza with more performances and featuring Art Nakane, the One-Man-Band.
2008 CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIAL HIGHLIGHTS
MARTIAL ARTS ARENA
Nontop marital arts performances and demonstrations in Aikido, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, self defense, Kendo, and many more including the very popular CALIFORNIA SUMO ASSOCIATION – Saturday, 4/5/08 at 1:30 p.m. There will be 13 group performing on sat and 11 on sunday starting around 11am. Performing on saturday are Aikido, Sityodtong muay thai, northern shaolin, wu shu, new breed brazilian jui-jitsu, US sumo, atemi ryu, center of practical self defense, krav maga, and copoiera. on sunday we will have nijutsu, karate, filipino martial arts, kendo, grappling-mma, judo, and ohana martial arts.
MAINSTAGE ENTERTAINMENT
4/5 & 4/6 has spectacular Japanese Dancing, Taiko, Hawaiian Performances, Broadway Medley with Kathy Bee and the Red Hot Mamas as well as these events:
HAWAIIAN VILLAGE sponsored by U.S. Bank
Includes live stage entertainment both days with lots of Hawaiian Hula and Polynesian Dancers with emcee Hawaiian entertainer, KAMAKA BROWN. Village also includes HAWAIIAN CRAFTERS with jewelry, wood products, clothing and handmade products with Hawaiian textile.
PLAZA STAGE in the Japanese Village Plaza
This year we had added a 4th stage in the Japanese Village Plaza in front of the Mikawaya Bakery-Confectionary, home of the renown Mochi Ice Cream. There will be a variety of performances dancing, music, singing martial arts as well as ART NAKANE, the One-Man-Band as featured in LA Times Magazine article and appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Show – will be showcasing his own creative musical and singing interpretations of songs in English and Japanese
CULTURAL PAVILION
Pavilion includes demonstrations in Chiigiri Art,; Kimono Texile exhibit; Japanese Internment Photo Exhibit; Nisei Stamp Campaign; The Ancient Game of GO; Japanese American National Museum, Sashiko, Shibori and Sumi-e [Japanese calligraphy} exhibits and the art of Japanese Doll making by Kimekomi Dolls to name a few.
KIDS CRAFT & FUN ZONE
The Kids Craft area features free crafts for Kids which includes: Pet Rocks, Fish Kites, Butterflies and our very own “Cherry Blossom Scavenger Hunt”. There will also be a variety of Inflatable Games.
CRAFT – GENERAL – COMMERCIAL VENDORS – FOOD COURT
There will be a large group of vendors a majority of them are craft vendors selling handmade and creative wares many with Asian, Japanese and Hawaiian designs made from pottery, jewelry, textile, paper, etc. as well as general vendors. The Million Trees LA group will be giving away 200 Crepe Myrtle Trees. Enjoy foods including: Sushi, Hawaiian, Mexican, Gourmet Sausages, Tako-yaki, Yaki-soba and Okonomi-Yaki, Japanese Pancakes.