Ahead of the 20th Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, founder Linda Poole reflects on the power of shared beauty
Pretty pink canopies characterize beloved events like Sakura Days Japan Fair, Blossoms After Dark, and the Big Picnic
Blossoms After Dark. Photo by Barry Yip
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival takes place from March 27 to April 17
NO ONE EMBODIES the spirit of the cherry blossom tree quite like Linda Poole.
When Stir reaches the founding artistic director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival by Zoom, she’s wearing a pink-and-white-striped sweatshirt and dangly pink earrings. The latter are a souvenir from Puerto Vallarta, she says, adding that she’s always on the lookout for cherry blossom–inspired items when she travels.
Poole recalls an instance many years ago when she was walking down Graveley Street near Lillooet Street, which is lined with a lush canopy of Akebono cherry blossom trees. A man from Croatia was taking photos of the blooms with a professional camera. The Vancouverite remembers approaching him right away to inquire about his pictures. And as they got to chatting, the man remarked to her something she says she’ll never forget: “I’ve never met anyone like you with flowers in her heart.”
That simple statement perfectly captures Poole and the festival she’s created, which is celebrating its 20th edition this year.
“It seems when the cherry blossom opens, it somehow opens our hearts,” she says fondly. “It opens us to be more human. And people connect—I see it all the time. That’s why at the festival, people become friendlier.”
From March 27 to April 17, the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival will bring a variety of pop-up concerts, tree talks and walks, workshops, and fairs to David Lam Park and other spots around the city. Fan-favourite mainstays like the Sakura Days Japan Fair and Blossoms After Dark are returning; the Big Picnic and Blossom Block Party are expanding; and new initiatives like a seven-kilometre Blossom Run are taking place. There’s also the signature Haiku Invitational, which is yielding a commemorative poetry book called Blossoms in the Breeze to mark 20 years of the event.
Linda Poole
Poole’s spark of inspiration for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival came while she was living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with her husband. After moving there in 1997, she met a Japanese ambassador who told her all about the spectacular sakura festivals in his home country. Poole was instantly enamoured with the concept and—without ever seeing photos of the fests—vowed to start one here in Vancouver, where over 43,000 cherry blossom trees bloom each spring.
So when she returned to Canada at the beginning of 2004, she started researching.
“I had to wait a few months for spring,” she recalls. “And oh, I was in heaven seeing them again—because where we were posted, there were no cherry blossoms. But it seemed everybody [here in Vancouver] was just taking them for granted. They weren’t even noticing them. I pointed them out, and they said, ‘What?’ You know, I was dumbfounded. I was really saddened—and that really motivated me. I thought, ‘I’ve got to do something here, because people are missing the beauty around them.’”
The first edition of the fest took place in 2006, and since then, it has only grown in scope and popularity. This year is the team’s biggest to date.
The Big Picnic, an annual outdoor get-together that happens rain or shine, will now take place over two days instead of one, with onsite art workshops, live performances, artisan vendors, and a themed pet parade beneath the blooms of David Lam Park. The Blossom Block Party, produced by Public Disco, has also grown: the usual open-air dance floor on Dunsmuir Patio at Bentall Centre will be complemented by a car-free zone right on Dunsmuir Street.
The magical two-day Blossoms After Dark will see David Lam Park’s cherry trees glowing in Technicolor, with magical light displays, interactive zones, and photo opportunities. It’s perhaps the fest’s most whimsical event, with roving performers heightening the fun.
Then, of course, there’s the Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden, a flagship event created in collaboration with the Japan Fair Association of Vancouver. Performers there will range from the drummers of GO Taiko to the martial artists of Shorinji Kempo BC and the traditional dancers of APPARE Yosakoi Vancouver. Cultural workshops include decorative sushi-making, ikebana (flower arranging), and karesansui (rock gardening). And don’t forget the food—there’ll be bites by Boketto Dessert Cafe, Jeggs Okonomiyaki, Miso Taco, and more.
The Big Picnic. Photo by Lung Liu
Poole’s Zoom background shows her standing beneath a massive cherry blossom tree in Queen Elizabeth Park; its colourful canopy stretches spectacularly outwards and up into the sky. She estimates that the tree must have been close to a century old when it started failing a couple of years ago, leading the Vancouver Park Board to remove it.
“I got so attached to him—I called him the grandpapa,” she says with a laugh. “He became famous. I have it on every phone I’ve ever owned.” She holds up her cell, pointing to the case, which has the same photo emblazoned on it.
Death is inevitable for the cherry blossom trees here, says Poole, which are affected by environmental factors like vehicle exhaust and sidewalk interference with root systems. But renewal is always a big part of the fest, and this year, the park board is replanting eight trees at David Lam Park and one at Queen Elizabeth Park.
When it comes down to it, Poole’s love for the blossoms isn’t just outwardly expressed, but inwardly owned. She lives by the motto “There is no stranger under the cherry tree,” adapted from the words of Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa—and she takes any chance she can get to share the magnificence of the sakura with the folks around her.
“Look at this weather, you know? They look dead,” she reflects. “Everything looks dead. They are so brave to come out first—you could just sit down and cry, the beauty is so intense. But for me, it’s all about the sharing. I mean, that’s another reason for the festival, I think, because it’s not good enough for me to find beauty….Once I share it, then that’s even better.” 
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