Sunday, March 23, 2008

Two rituals of nature occur every year about this time: The swallows return to Capistrano, California, and the cherry blossoms bloom in Washington, D.C.

If your travel plan don't include Southern California, that's okay. The cherry blossoms are well worth staying home for. The fun begins Saturday when the National Building Museum hosts National Cherry Blossom Festival Family Day and the festival's opening ceremony.

Since the original cherry trees were a gift from Japan in 1912, the festival's focus is on Japanese arts and culture, including:

¿ Children's dances performed by the Shizumi Kodomo dancers;

¿ Folk music played on a koto, a zither-like instrument;

¿ Origami and mon-kiri (folding and cutting paper); and

¿ Traditional Japanese clothing.

Family Day performers include the Shaw Middle School Marching Hawks drum line and the Sitty Stars double-dutch jump-rope team. Performers for the opening ceremony include taiko drummer Kenny Endo and the Howard University Jazz Ensemble.