The annual JASA/ BBG Cherry Blossom Festival will be held on Saturday, March 19th from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Japanese Gardens.

Alongside the festival, the Birmingham Public Library will be holding a program inside the Administration Building in the Lecture Hall to celebrate the homecoming of the newly restored Miss Iwate Friendship Doll.

The Consulate-General of Japan in Atlanta will man a tent as they do each year, but we also have additional special involvement by the Consulate with the Miss Iwate celebration. The Consulate will send a chef who specialized in making Japanese sweets, wagashi, to offer demonstrations throughout the day in the Lecture Hall.

Activities will be ongoing throughout the day in the Japanese Gardens and in the Lecture Hall. 

BPL is partnering with the Japan-America Society of Alabama (JASA) and the Southeast Chapter of the Haiku Society of America – SE Region (HSA) to sponsor a Twitter haiku contest as part of the annual Sakura Festival, the primary event of which will take place at the Japanese Gardens at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Saturday, March 19, 2016.  Check out the details and send in your haiku. http://www.bplonline.org/programs/haiku/