Welcome to Seattle Center
April 1, 2025 (Seattle, WA) – The Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival, part of the Seattle Center Festál series, promotes cross-cultural exchanges and fosters a deeper understanding of Japanese and Japanese American culture and heritage through both traditional and contemporary means. This free annual festival, celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2025, will take place from Friday, April 11, through Sunday, April 13, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Armory Food & Event Hall and Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center.
Attendees of all ages can enjoy an array of cultural stage presentations including tea ceremonies, koto music, taiko drumming, traditional dance performances, and martial arts demonstrations. The fine art of Shodo calligraphy and ikebana displays will be showcased in the Armory Lofts. Family-friendly activities and workshops include children’s kite-making and kimono dressing. Delicious culinary treats will be served all three days. As part of a special 50th anniversary expansion, the festival will also host a sumo tournament in the Exhibition Hall (Saturday only) and a new art exhibit by local visual artists, located in the hallway of the Armory Lofts.
The Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival was first held in Seward Park in 1976 but moved to Seattle Center in 1979 and has now grown into a three-day celebration enjoyed by thousands of people.
“Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival has a long-distinguished relationship to the Festál series, being the first ethnic festival held annually at the Center,” said Heidi Jackson, Seattle Center Managing Artistic Director of Cultural Programs. “Cherry blossoms are a renewal of spring and life. Everyone is invited to enjoy this renewal together at this entertaining, family-friendly cultural celebration.”
This festival is part of the Festál series of 25 festivals, presented by various cultural organizations and hosted by Seattle Center throughout the year.
About Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival History
The Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival was initiated on May 8, 1976, when Japan’s former Prime Minister, Takeo Miki, gifted 1,000 cherry trees to Seattle in commemoration of America’s bicentennial and the long friendship between the people of Japan and Washington state. Information on the festival is available at cherryblossomfest.org and www.seattlecenter.com, as well as on Facebook and YouTube.
About Seattle Center Festál
Seattle Center Festál is a unique public program series of 25 free cultural festivals, each offering its own celebration of heritage and identity. These events provide a range of engaging programs and activities to cultivate a deeper understanding of the diversity of our region. Seattle Center Festál is produced in partnership with community groups, presented on weekends from January to November and supported by City of Seattle, Seattle Center Foundation, and 4Culture.
About Seattle Center
Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts, and family gathering place in the core of our city and region. Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus, centered around the International Fountain, is part of the Uptown Arts & Cultural District and home to Climate Pledge Arena; more than 30 cultural, educational, sports, and entertainment organizations; and a broad range of public and community programs. In everything it does, Seattle Center’s mission is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments which delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities.
Seattle Center has expanded its role to provide maintenance and public safety services for Seattle’s new Waterfront Park, a series of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront between Pioneer Square and the Seattle Aquarium. Seattle Center supports managing these new waterfront public spaces in partnership with the non-profit Friends of Waterfront Seattle, which offers the community a range of recreational and cultural programming.
Thanks to the support of Official Seattle Center Partners – Alaska Airlines, The Climate Pledge, Coors Light, Pepsi, Premera, Symetra, T-Mobile, and WaFd Bank – Seattle Center is the #1 arts and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest with 12 million annual visitors, generating $1.864 billion in business activity and more than $631 million in labor income annually.
Contact:
Jayme Stocker, Seattle Center 206-507-5353 jayme.stocker@seattle.gov
