National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade

the Jefferson Memorial during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington, DC

the Jefferson Memorial during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Washington, DC

Each year in mid April our nation’s capital hosts among one of the most beautiful and extravagant festivals in America, the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This entire two week-long event celebrates the arrival of spring, as well as of the gift of cherry trees given to us by a Tokyo Mayor in 1912. The whole city will look as if it put on a cape of vibrant pink, making it easy to get into the festive flowery mood that surrounds this performance. The parade itself is one of the main events during the festival, accepting about 10 different high school bands from across the U.S, each band containing 90 members or more. This is considered to be one of the largest annual spectator events in D.C.

There will be crowds of around 300,000 on the sidelines, all from around the nation, and world. The entire parade is as vibrant as the trees blowing flowers around the city streets, full of huge colorful balloons, extensive floats, celebrity entertainers, and many different groups of performers (including you) that make for a seriously grand spectacle of music and showmanship. The route runs ten blocks down iconic Constitution Avenue, from the National Archives to the Washington Monument. This parade is considered to be the ‘nation’s premier springtime parade’, co hosted by ABC network anchors and featuring several different special appearances throughout! After the parade performance your group can enjoy the various festive going-ons happening throughout the city, as well as sight-see some of our nation’s absolute most iconic landmarks, monuments, and neighborhoods.