April has three great cultural events happening in the Lower Mainland – the Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade, Surrey Vaisakhi Festival and the Sakura Days Japan Fair.
In 2020 all three events were cancelled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. In normal years, they are popular events and highly recommended.
Cherry Blossoms at Vaisakhi Festivals
In years when there isn’t a global pandemic, the Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade takes place in South Vancouver along Main Street, 49th Avenue and through Punjabi Market. The Surrey Vaisakhi Festival takes place in the streets near the Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar Temple. The Sakura Days Japan Fair takes place at VanDusen Garden. All three are great events in their own ways.
One thing is funny though – in some years there are more cherry blossoms at the East Indian festival in Vancouver than at the event celebrating the blossoming of cherry trees! Or at least that’s the case some years, and especially in 2015.
More Blossoms at Punjabi Festival than Blossom Fair
At the Sakura Days Japan Fair a few years ago there was just one lonely cherry tree in blossom in the main fair area, and less than half a dozen blossoming trees in other parts of VanDusen Garden. The event was still great, even with the lack of what was being celebrated.
On the same day, ironically, on side streets in and around the Vancouver Vaisakhi Parade route, there were literally gazillions of blossoms. It was quite remarkable!
There weren’t many blossoming cherry trees right on the parade route itself, along Main Street and 49th Avenue, but intersecting those streets there were more stunningly pink trees than probably anywhere in the Lower Mainland.
You had to get off the main roads to see the colour, or you might not have noticed the blossoms at all, but when you did the sight was amazing.
So nice when one cultural community embraces the theme of another culture’s event!
More Information
For more on the Punjabi festivals, click Lower Mainland Vaisakhi Parades.
To learn more about cherry blossom events in April, check out the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival or Sakura Days Japan Fair.
