In pictures: US cherry blossoms offer respite to Covid-battered country
The US marks 110 years since Japan gifted the fruit trees, with thousands of people rushing to Washington DC to celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
Cherry blossom trees, a gift from Tokyo's mayor in 1912, are blooming across Washington DC.
Dubbed one of the world's "greatest celebrations of spring," thousands of visitors have been converging every day in the US capital, Washington DC, to witness cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Most line the banks of the Tidal Basin, creating a striking landscape around the famous Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and Martin Luther King Jr Memorial.
The beauty of flowering cherry trees is celebrated with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs from March 20 to April 17. The festival also marks 110 years since the mayor of Tokyo gifted some 3,000 cherry trees to the US, adorning the city with pink and white blooms.
"The initial gift of 3,020 trees was represented by 12 different varieties. Two varieties, the Yoshino and Kwanzan, are now the most common type in Washington DC," according to the National Park Service.
"The peak bloom date is defined as the day when 70 percent of the Yoshino Cherry blossoms are open."
With the Covid pandemic on the decline and curbs largely lifted, visitors are flooding the festival after two years of sombre events amid several waves of Covid that killed more than a million people.
The festival features four weeks of cultural exhibitions, events, performances, and educational programmes across all of DC's eight wards and beyond.
National Cherry Blossom Festival which runs from March 20 to April 17 is a four-week event to celebrate the spring season.
The 2022 Festival is the 110th anniversary of the gift of trees from the mayor of Tokyo to Washington DC.
"The initial gift of 3,020 trees [from Tokyo] was represented by 12 different varieties," US park authorities say.
"Two varieties, the Yoshino and Kwanzan, are now the most common cherry tree type in DC," according to National Park Service.
Washington Monument juts out from behind the pink-and-white riot of colours.
Blossom Kite Festival is a decades-old tradition encouraging participants of all ages to fly kites among the cherry blossom trees.
Visitors are flooding the cherry blossom festival after the US held somber events in the past two years.
One of the best sites to witness peak bloom is the Tidal Basin in Washington DC, offering striking scenes to photo enthusiasts and for social media sharing.
Hundreds of cherry trees are lined at the edges of the Tidal Basin, embellishing in pink and white the settings around Jefferson Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr Memorial.
The Jefferson Memorial is seen from the banks of the Tidal Basin –– a location most associated with DC's Cherry Blossom Festival that takes place each spring.
The blooming cherry trees offer a spectacular view of the Washington Monument overlooking the Tidal Basin.
Destination DC, the city's tourism agency, predicts the US capital will attract 20 million visitors this year.
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