Every spring, thousands of cherry blossom trees bloom in Washington D.C. around the Tidal Basin and throughout the National Mall. To celebrate the flora, the city hosts the National Cherry Blossom Festival from mid-March to the end of April. The festival began in 1912 when Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan, gifted 3,000 sakura trees to the city to represent the amicable relationship between the U.S. and Japan. Historically, the First Lady of the U.S. is heavily involved with the planting of the trees and the events of the festival each year so in 2023 First Lady Dr. Jill Biden planted a tree outside the East Wing of the White House. This season, the trees bloomed on March 17th and will remain in bloom for about a week. Open the gallery below to see some highlights!
