Indulging in a Rite of Spring
With a nod to approaching warm weather, the inaugural Summer in the City column heads for the great outdoors. While noteworthy films screened en plein air will be featured in this space, the focus is on the best of the city's outdoor festivals, concerts, plays, and parties, as well as alfresco dining options. This weekend, Summer in the City stops and smells the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which hosts its annual Sakura Matsuri festival.
FESTIVAL
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Sakura Matsuri festival is pinned on the blossoming of the garden's cherry trees. But although the pink flowers are certainly the biggest draw during the weekend celebrations, the place offers plenty of cultural indulgences. Based on time-honored sakura ceremonies in Japan, the annual "Rite of Spring" festival is a bounty of activities: Manga workshops, tea ceremonies, woodblock printing, and traditional doll-making are just a few. Concerts abound with Japanese pop bands such as Love etc., ZAN, and Gaijin a Go-Go performing, as well as a children's Suzuki method recital, presented by the Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Performing Arts. The Japanese Folk Dance Institute performs a "flower hat" procession and a Minbu folk dance. For a complete schedule of events, go to bbg.org.
(Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Ave. at Montgomery Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-623-7200, free.)
