The Cherry Blossom Festival’s Cherry Jam Downtown Concert is a free event that takes place under shelter at Vancouver’s Burrard Street SkyTrain Station.
It’s usually part of the annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival which is scheduled to run from March 29th to April 25th in 2024. This year, however, there might not be a Cherry Jam event. A number of the festival’s other events are happening though, including the Big Picnic and Sakura Days Japan Fair.
Blossom Festival Cherry Jam
In 2020 the Cherry Jam Downtown Concert was supposed to take place on Thursday, April 2nd, and Friday, April 3rd, from noon until 1:30 pm each day. Unfortunately, the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It didn’t happen in 2021, 2022 or 2023 either. Hopefully the event returns in the future.
The Cherry Jam’s normal venue is at Burrard Station which is located at 635 Burrard Street just one stop from Waterfront Station by SkyTrain.
It’s a small event, drawing only a couple of hundred spectators most years and lasting only 90 minutes. It’s free though, and worth checking out if you happen to be in the area.
The performances at the Cherry Jam event are all good, Burrard Street Station’s indoor concourse is a great venue as it’s large, semi-outdoors and protected from the rain, and the cherry blossoms in the square outside can be some of Vancouver’s finest when they are at their peak.
Cherry Jam Entertainment
Entertainment at the event in 2018 included performances by the Sound Eclectic Vocal Ensemble, Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble, the Tetsu Taiko Japanese drumming group, Alcvin Ramos on the Japanese bamboo flute, and pianist Ken Cormier from Chor Leoni.
The 2019 lineup included Zimbamoto Trio (playing Zimbabwean Afro Fusion), Katari Taiko (a Vancouver-based Japanese drumming group), NoriNori & Kage (a duo playing the taiko drums and Japanese shamisen) and MNGWA (a Vancouver-based Afro-Latin Cumbia band).
In 2020, on Thursday, April 2nd, scheduled performers were:
- BC World Music Collective Trio
- Kotojiro World Music
- Stephan Stewart-Imbert (Hurdy Gurdy)
- Vancouver Okinawa Taiko
On Friday, April 3rd, the following groups were scheduled to perform:
- Cheondoong (Thunder) Performing Arts Society
- Kiyoshi & Jesse
- Mohamed Assani
- Royal Academy of Bhangra
At the event there are also usually readings of winning poems from the previous year’s Haiku Invitational poetry contest.
Other Information
For more information see our article about the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival for other cherry tree-related events taking place in April.
Other Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival events most years include the following:
- Spring Lights Illumination Night – an evening of cherry blossoms, music and special lights at Queen Elizabeth Park
- Sakura Days Japan Fair – a 2-day Japanese festival at VanDusen Garden
For ideas on other things to do in the Lower Mainland, check out the following:
