Cherry Blossom Festival blooms in Branch Brook Park after 2-year absence – NJ.com

Get those Instagram fingers ready — dainty pink and white cherry blossoms are calling your name.

Newark’s Branch Brook Park welcomes the return of the Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival this weekend after two years without the annual springtime fixture.

The cherry blossoms didn’t go anywhere, of course. We did.

The 2020 festival, which was set to begin not long after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, was canceled, and the park was closed to pedestrians. The 2021 festival was also canceled, and due to the continuing COVID risk, people were still encouraged to only drive by or take a distanced walk to avoid congregating.

The 2022 Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival, which marks the event’s 46th year, puts no such restrictions on the floral escapade.

Visitors can get up close and pose with the more than 5,200 trees at the park, plus gather for a series of festival events that start Saturday, April 2 and run through April 10.

“This spring is different,” says Thomas Dougherty, chief operating officer of the Branch Brook Park Alliance, a nonprofit that provides park maintenance.

While ”stealth omicron” — subvariant BA.2 — takes over as people continue to test positive for the coronavirus, he sees the festival as a chance to celebrate some gains since 2020.

“We’re coming out of this scary time,” Dougherty says. “This spring for us is a whole other level of renewal and excitement because we can get to go outdoors unmasked, hug our loved ones, breathe the same air freely without fear. I think that that’s what’s gonna make this season so special.”

Now for the burning question (there’s an antihistamine for that).

Just when are the cherry blossoms in bloom?

Dougherty says calls and texts pour in as sure as spring arrives each year. It’s Mother Nature’s time to show off, and people want to mark it on their calendars.

Blossom watchers expect the 2022 Newark bloom to start April 1 to 5, with peak bloom happening between April 5 and 10.

“We generally are 10 days behind Washington, D.C.,” says Kate Hartwyk, deputy director of the Essex County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.

This year, the Washington bloom arrived early, on March 21. But it’s probably for the best that Jersey buds wait longer for their big moment, given the recent cold snap that saw temperatures drop to the 20s and brought gusts of spring snow.

“At this stage of the budding, it won’t do much damage to the trees,” Hartwyk says — the blossoms would be more vulnerable if they already emerged.

And the bloom is serious business. Though two live webcams offer a look at the trees, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. regularly visits the park himself to give Hartwyk an update on the buds, inspecting for any change in bloom status.

Branch Brook’s original cherry blossom trees were planted in the 1920s — at one point, 2,500 trees bloomed each year. By 2006, the number had dwindled due to aging trees. DiVincenzo, who takes pride in the Jersey park eclipsing the number of cherry trees in Washington, D.C. (less than 4,000), launched a mass planting effort, upping the annual pink wonder to 5,000-plus.

There are 14 different varieties that make up the bloom. Most of the trees are either Yoshino, single-blossom trees that bloom in early April; or Kwanzan, double-blossom trees known for their deeper pink blossoms that bloom in mid- to late-April.

The bursts of pink and white, known as sakura in Japan — where cherry blossom viewing, or hanami, starts in late March — produce a “pink snow” as the blossoms drop to the ground.

Hartwyk says the cherry blossom festival usually draws between 150,000 and 250,000 visitors to the park each April. Numbers for park visitors were not tracked last April, she says.

After the two-year hiatus, Dougherty expects attendance to bloom. He says one “glimmer of hope” in the pandemic has been that parks and open space have gotten more attention.

“We’ve seen volunteerism increase,” Dougherty says, by about 110% last year as compared with 2019.

“If that is any indication of what we’re going to experience this year in festival goers, I think that of course we are going to see more people interested than ever before.”

Hartwyk says that Bloomfest, the big finale of the festival on Sunday, April 10, which brings live music and entertainment, will have more food options this year. There will also be Japanese cultural demonstrations, crafters and activities for kids.

“Most folks are waiting for the weather to lighten up,” says Marcy DePina, one of the organizers of So Fresh Fest, a wellness festival that is happening in Branch Brook Park during the cherry blossom festival.

“We do expect that we’ll have a really nice turnout,” she says of the event, set for Saturday, April 2.

The fest-within-the-fest will offer selfie portrait stations, art, live music, chakra balancing, sound healing and yoga.

April 9 also brings an affiliated cycling event, the Newark Historical Cherry Blossom Ride, which features cyclists wearing period dress. The ride starts in Military Park and travels to Branch Brook.

Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival and related events for 2022

Events free and at Branch Brook Park unless noted.

• Saturday, April 2: Cherry Blossom Challenge Bike Race, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., oval, northern division
• Saturday, April 2: So Fresh Fest, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., concert grove
• Sunday, April 3: Cherry Blossom 10K Run, 10 a.m. to noon, Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, extension division
• Saturday, April 9: Newark Historical Cherry Blossom Ride, starting at Military Park, 9 a.m. registration/11 a.m. ride, comes to Branch Brook Park at noon. Registration $51.
• Saturday, April 9: One-Mile Fun Run/Walk, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., concert grove, southern division
• Saturday, April 9: Essex County Family Day, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., concert grove, southern division
• Sunday, April 10: Bloomfest, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, extension division and concert grove, southern division
• Every Wednesday in April: Cherry blossom talks at 11 a.m., Cherry Blossom Welcome Center, extension division

For more, visit branchbrookpark.org/cherryblossoms, sofreshfest.com and historicalrenaissanceride.org.

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.