Vancouver festival sets to welcome blooming cherry trees

Crowds gathered on Thursday at a downtown transit station in Vancouver to hold a concert to mark the 10th annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.

The free concert was held to officially launch the month-long festival that aims to sustain and renew the city's cherry tree heritage.

Outside the Museum of Vancouver, thousands of cherry trees are in full bloom, which makes spring perhaps the most enjoyable season for residents.

The festival was launched in 2006 by Linda Poole, Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival executive director after she saw other cherry blossom festivals in Japan.

She said there are more than 40,000 cherry trees planted throughout the city. Most of the trees were planted in the city in the 1930s after arriving here as a gift from Yokohama - Vancouver's sister city in Japan.

Local residents don't need to travel far to find a street lined with cherry trees. They bloom at various times between mid-March to mid-May.

"We estimate right now we have about 40,000, but Park Board is planting them always to renew and we're planting another 1,000 this year with birthday blossoms you can own for your own garden. But we have 54 different varieties," Poole added.

"I always enjoy attending the cherry festival with my children and come here at this time of the year over the past few years. Cherry flowers are magnificent," one spectator said.

Helping out with the cause, the Canadian Mint recently released a new collector coin designed by a local artist depicting the city's famous spring blossoms. The cherry tree coins are so popular that they were sold out soon after being issued in Vancouver. Endi