On the weekends of 20-21 and 27 -28 August, the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival was held at Auburn Botanic Gardens in Cumberland, NSW. Some cherry blossom trees were planted as part of the Japanese garden which makes up part of the Botanic Garden and when they bloom in late August, become really popular with visitors.
CLAIR Sydney attended the official reception of this event on 19 August. Viv May, the Administrator of Cumberland Council and Paul Toole, Minister for Local Government, attended the reception, along with a few Japanese government agencies and company representatives. It was a great opportunity to further strengthen the ties between the NSW government, Cumberland Council and Japan.
There were various events held as part of the festival such as Sumo wrestling, martial art demonstrations, Japanese flower arrangement displays, Yosakoi dance performances, Origami Art workshops and so on. There were about 45,000 visitors to the festival this year. We believe this festival has the potential to further promote Japanese tourism in Australia. As such, we would love to take part in next year’s festival to promote Japanese local councils and their unique attractions as tourist destinations.
