Brooklyn Celebrates Spring—And The Selfie—At Sakura Matsuri

PROSPECT PARK – The sun was out and the blossoms in full bloom for the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s 37th annual Sakura Matsuri cherry blossom festival over the weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, visitors poured into the gardens to experience the flowering of more than 200 cherry trees in peak bloom as part of hanami, or “cherry blossom viewing.” Floral prints were very much in season as well, with the warm weather and welcome sunshine giving visitors from Brooklyn and beyond the encouragement to let loose a bit.

Also on display were costumed visitors representing everything from traditional Japanese attire to much more contemporary cosplay. Musical acts took to multiple stages for everything from taiko drumming to J-Pop to traditional dance, as visitors sprawled out on the lawns, spreading blankets and chowing down on the Japanese cuisine—and hot dogs—for sale from a variety of vendors.

The order of the day was photos, though, with cosplayers cruising through the crowds and pausing to pose for enthusiastic photographers. Parents lifted infants into boughs of beautiful blossoms, participants of all ages swung selfie sticks, and tireless Instagram boyfriends shot their sweethearts’ latest profile pics from all the angles.

Check out some photos from the day below, which show some the ways in which we pose, project and perform our lives in #Brooklyn:

All photos by Paul Stremple for Bklyner.