Denver Cherry Blossom Festival
Date: Saturday June 21 11 am – 6 pm & Sunday, June 22, 11am – 4:00pm
Location: Sakura Square
Event Description
The Denver Cherry Blossom Festival is a time-honored tradition that is free and open to the public. It is the only outdoor Japanese/Japanese American (JA) cultural festival in the Rocky Mountain region. We are grateful to share our culture with the festival goers who fill Sakura Square. We offer an outdoor performance stage that features traditional Japanese dancing, singing, instrumental music including Taiko drum ensemble performances, and judo, karate and aikido demonstrations. The Japanese-themed marketplace on Lawrence Street offers jewelry, artwork, pottery, clothing, incense, plants, totes, and more. A feast of Japanese cuisine is available including sushi, manju (sweet pastry), spam musubi, teriyaki chicken bento lunches, gyoza (dumplings), edamame (soybeans), sake, and a special local craft beer Sakura brew.
The event entrances will be located at the corner of 19th and Lawrence Street and 20th and Lawrence Street. The performance stage will be in the open parking lot between Pacific Mercantile and Tri-State/Denver Buddhist Temple.
In order to keep our guests, volunteers, and staff as safe as possible, dining will take place under the Temple with the entrance off of 20th Street with ADA accessibility. No indoor dining. Masks are optional.
We are prioritizing public health and safety and will follow state and local guidelines to ensure that the festival is safe for staff, attendees and the surrounding community. We ask everyone attending the event to:
- Stay home if you feel ill
- Wash hands and/or use hand sanitizer often, at the stations provided
Road Closures and Parking Restrictions
Lawrence St between 19th St and 20th St will be closed and meter parking unavailable from Friday, June 20 at 5pm through Sunday, June 22 after event cleanup is complete (approx. 9pm). All meters on the east side of Larimer St between 19th St and 20th St and on the north side of 19th St between Larimer and Lawrence will be unavailable in that time frame as well. Attendees are being encouraged to take public transportation or ride shares to the event to help alleviate traffic and parking congestion. No onsite parking available.