Cupertino’s Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the sister city relationship between Cupertino and Toyokawa, Japan, and besides being the 40th annual event, this year also marks the return of the student exchange program between the two cities after the pandemic hiatus.
The Cupertino students selected to participate in the exchange program will be working at the festival, set for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28, at Memorial Park. They will be introduced on the amphitheater stage on Saturday at noon, along with the 2024 NorCal Cherry Blossom Queen and her court.
Outdoor entertainment includes Taiko drum groups, Japanese dancers, various martial arts and musical performances. Special interest groups such as Japanese dog and koi fish clubs will have booths on the lawn areas. Children’s activities feature games, hands-on arts and crafts, and a petting zoo.
The nearby Quinlan Community Center will host indoor performances and cultural displays, demonstrations, workshop and activities. A gallery of Toyokawa student artwork from the sister cities’ annual art exchange program will be on display. Japanese cultural arts and crafts vendors and a pictorial timeline of Cupertino’s sister city relationship with Toyokawa will be grouped at the Japanese Artisan Pavilion at the Cupertino Senior Center.
Festival food includes sushi, spam musubi, gyoza, yakisoba, mochi, teriyaki chicken rice bowls, shave ice, cotton candy and bento boxes with pork cutlet, teriyaki salmon or sesame tofu, with iced coffee, boba drinks, beer, sake, plum wine, sodas and lemonade to wash it all down. Food trucks will also be on site.
The free festival runs 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. both days. For more information, visit https://www.cupertinocbf.org/2024-festival/performance-programs.