Nashville Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)

Today was the 2012 Nashville Sakura Matsuri. Here is the official website; nashvillecherryblossomfestival.org. The curse continued; rain chased us from the park as the festival came to a close. Always with the soaking!
There are several Sakura matsuri, or cherry blossom festivals, in America this time of year. Washington DC in particular is a big one, but Hanami (flower viewing) parties are scattered all over the US. This year was special because Nashville received three baby cherry trees grown from cuttings from the original cherry trees given to our countries' capitol by the mayor of Tokyo in 1912. This year marks the 100th aniversary of the first Japanese cherry grove in the US. I know that according to Japanese folklore objects sometimes gain spirits after reaching a hundred years. I wonder if cherry trees do as well?

The last of the cherry blossoms. It rained petals as the wind blew.

These guys were adorable little troublemakers. Their mother would dry them off and they'd be right back in the fountain. It was too cold, but they didn't seem to mind.

This was a demonstration of a tea ceramony. The way of the tea is so complicated!

A sakura kusadama.

Yoyo balloons. You had to hook the string with a wire hook attached to a twisted rice paper rope. Tricky like you wouldn't believe.