Cherry Blossom Festival Starts Saturday At Branch Brook Park In Newark

The 43rd-annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Newark's Branch Brook Park, celebrating the spring bloom of the park's thousands of cherry blossom trees, begins Saturday with a bike race beginning at 7 a.m. A number of events follow throughout the rest of the month.

Thousands of cherry blossoms will bloom this month at Branch Brook Park in Newark.
Photo Credit: *County of Essex*

Paul Milo

04/04/2019 2:42 p.m.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors, including visitors from as far as Japan, are drawn to the festival to witness the blossoming of the trees' light pink and white leaves. The trees line walkways threading throughout the 360-acre park.

“The natural beauty of the cherry blossoms has been attracting visitors to the park since they were first planted there in the late 1920s. The festival has helped unify the community, highlighted the benefits of Branch Brook Park and the local neighborhood, and enabled the public to enjoy the blooming trees in a variety of ways,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said in a statement.

“We invite the public to come out and enjoy our display of 5,000 trees, which is larger than the national display in Washington, DC, and the most diverse collection in the world,” he added.

Along with the bike race, a 10K, guided tours, a Family Day and other events are planned. For a complete schedule, click here.

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