This cherry blossom festival in Newark attracts thousands

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions The Best Music of 2025 About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics This cherry blossom festival in Newark attracts thousands The District of Columbia's Tidal Basin cherry blossoms attract a quarter million visitors annually but there are more cherry trees in a park in Newark, N.J. National This cherry blossom festival in Newark attracts thousands April 11, 20267:43 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday Jeff Lunden This cherry blossom festival in Newark attracts thousands Listen &middot; 3:19 3:19 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5763897/nx-s1-9725940" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The District of Columbia's Tidal Basin cherry blossoms attract a quarter million visitors annually but there are more cherry trees in a park in Newark, N.J. Sponsor Message SCOTT SIMON, HOST: The cherry blossoms ringing the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., hog all the attention, but reporter and New Yorker Jeff Lunden found more cherry trees much closer to home - in Newark.

+ JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE: For a city dweller like me, the easiest way to get to Branch Brook Park is on Newark's light rail. And once you exit the station, you're transported into an urban oasis. (SOUNDBITE OF BELL TOLLING) LUNDEN: Seemingly everywhere, there are trees with white and pink blossoms and people taking pictures and videos. PERRY CONCEPCION: My name's Perry Concepcion (ph), and I'm from Livingston, New Jersey. And today, I decided to come to Branch Brook Park because I worked all weekend. I'm a server and a bartender. And so is my friend Jen (ph) over here. LUNDEN: I spotted the pair lying in tie-dyed hammocks. CONCEPCION: So I decided to bring it and enjoy the cherry blossoms front row. THOMAS B DOUGHERTY JR: We have over 5,300 Japanese flower and cherry blossom trees in 18 varieties. LUNDEN: Thomas B. Dougherty Jr. is president of the Branch Brook Park Alliance, a nonprofit conservancy that partners with Essex County to help support this 360-acre park. DOUGHERTY: We have the largest and most diverse collection in the United States in a concentrated area. LUNDEN: And for 50 years, every April, there's been a cherry blossom festival. DOUGHERTY: You know, after the civil unrest in Newark in the '60s, the Parks Commission was looking for ways in which to galvanize the community in this park to celebrate the cherry blossoms in bloom and embracing all walks of life to come together in the joy and the renewal of spring. LUNDEN: Dougherty, who helps oversee 4,000 volunteers, says the cherry blossoms first came to Newark in the 1920s when the owner of a department store visited Japan and made a generous gift. DOUGHERTY: So in 1927, she came back and made an offer to the Parks Commission that they just couldn't refuse, and that was she would pay for and import the first 2,000 Japanese flower and cherry blossom trees. LUNDEN: With many schools in New Jersey and New York on spring break, the park was filled with families. Sharon Sozio (ph), her husband and two children traveled from Staten Island. SHARON SOZIO: We came here to check out the cherry blossoms. My kids love the cherry blossoms. But... LUNDEN: Do you come here every year? SOZIO: This is our first time here. LUNDEN: So how did you find out about the cherry blossoms? SOZIO: On TikTok. People were posting videos that they came here and it looked beautiful. And my kids saw it and they said they wanted to come. LUNDEN: Some people make it an annual pilgrimage like Ashley (ph) and Trevor Post (ph), who had one of their first dates at Branch Brook Park, and we're celebrating Ashley's birthday. TREVOR POST: A lot of our springtime has revolved around cherry blossoms. We actually got engaged at the cherry blossoms down in D.C., a couple of years ago. So it's nice to do and something that she loves, so make sure to do it for her every year. LUNDEN: If Newark's too far to visit, you can always see videos of the cherry blossoms on TikTok. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in Newark, New Jersey. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(82)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();