Thousands of cherry blossoms are about to bloom in one NJ park

🍒 The 48th Cherry Blossom Festival in Branch Brook Park starts April 6

🍒 More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the week-long event

🍒 The park has more cherry blossoms than D.C., park officials say

NEWARK — There is no reason to travel to Japan or even Washington D.C. to see this year’s cherry blossoms.

The 48th Annual Essex County Cherry Blossom Festival will be held at Branch Brook Park in Newark from April 6-14, and more than 100,000 people are expected to attend.

About 5,300 Japanese cherry blossoms of 16 different varieties adorn the park and will be bursting with color and fragrance very soon, making it the pinkest park in New Jersey, said Kate Hartwyck, deputy director for The Essex County Department of Parks.

She said Branch Brook Park has the largest collection of cherry blossom trees and the most varieties on the East Coast, even more than D.C., which is known for their beautiful blooms and festivals, too.

When do the cherry blossoms bloom?

Branch Brook Park’s cherry blossoms usually bloom 10 days after the tidal basin in Washington D.C. blooms, Hartwyck said. This year, the tidal basin in D.C. reached peak blooms on Sunday, March 17.

That means Branch Brook Park should start to see the trees reach peak bloom around Easter, March 31.

Cherry blossoms don’t bloom for very long. “It’s one of the reasons why our county executives brought so many different varieties to Branch Brook Park. It allows the bloom season to be extended for much longer. So, while we will probably peak bloom around Easter, there will be cherry trees in bloom for three to four weeks in Branch Brook Park,” Hartwyck said.

The History of Cherry Blossoms in Essex County

The original gift was from Newark resident, Caroline Bamberger Fuld (co-founder of Bamberger & Co. department store in Newark), who visited D.C. and saw the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin. She was inspired to bring the trees to her hometown. So, in 1913, she gifted about 800 cherry blossom trees to Branch Brook Park, Hartwyck said.

From that collection, the park commission at the time propagated cherry blossom trees in its greenhouses. They did go into a state of decline. Then 20 years ago when Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo came into office, he wanted to bring the cherry blossom collection back to life. A planting campaign embarked on over those two decades to bring that collection back up to 5,300 trees, she explained.

The Cherry Blossom Festival 2024

Once again, The 48th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival will be held at Branch Brook Park from April 6-14.

It kicks off with the Annual Challenge Bike Race on Saturday, the 6th, and a competitive 10K run on Sunday, the 7th where part of the park will be closed off for the runners, Hartywck said.

The following weekend on April 13, there will be a Family Fun Day and a kid’s one-mile run, leading up to the signature main event, Bloom Fest on April 14. There will be crafters, food vendors, live performances from the NJ Symphony Orchestra, and other fun attractions. Both Family Day and Bloom Fest are free events.

If people want to come during the week, free lectures will also be offered in the brand new Cherry Blossom Welcome Center on Thursday and Saturday at 11 a.m. Hartwyck said they are about 30-minute talks about the cherry blossom collection, how they came to be in Branch Brook Park, and all the different varieties that can be seen there.

For those who can’t make it to the festival this year or for those who can’t traverse the entire three-mile park, historic virtual tours will be available all season with a free, self-guided tour cell phone tour.

“You can dial in the phone number and pick a stop and you can learn about the history of different areas throughout the park. Everything from the Prudential Concert Grove in the southern division, all the way up to the original cherry tree collection on Mill Street,” she said.

There are 72 stops to pick and choose from on your cell phone.

Check the website

Hartwyck said it’s important to check the Essex County Park Department’s website where regular updates of the status of the blooms will be available. That way visitors who are unsure whether it’s peak bloom or a good time to come down to the park, can check the website for more information.

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