On Sunday, thousands of New Haven residents gathered beneath the blooming cherry blossom trees lining Wooster Square Park for the city’s annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
As the sun shone through the trees, children danced and ran through the park, families and friends enjoyed picnic lunches from local food vendors, and musicians, artists and local businesses displayed their work.
Among the festival-goers was two-year-old New Haven resident Noah Grant, whose enthusiasm and joyful dance moves captured the spirit of the event.
“As soon as he heard the music, he just started to dance,” said Katelyn Grant, Noah’s mother.
On the grass in front of the stage, many other children joined in the dancing. A large crowd of seated guests also enjoyed the music from lawn chairs and picnic tables.
Nearby, husband and wife Kyle Gibbs and Tanya Kimball danced together in a swing style.
“Dancing is kind of in my blood,” Gibbs said, tracing his passion for dancing back to his Puerto Rican maternal grandparents. “I remember my grandparents used to say that the way you dance communicates the way you love.”
The festival featured performances by three local bands, including St. Luke’s Steel Band, a steelpan ensemble founded in New Haven in 1999. Gibbs said he came out to support St. Luke’s because a member of the band is his neighbor.
Reflecting on the band’s performance, drummer Ade Ben-Salahuedin expressed his joy at seeing attendees immersed in the music. Ben-Salahuedin said he first encountered steel drums at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, which he attended in the early 2010s.
Kenneth Joseph, the director of St. Luke’s Steel Band, has been a driving force within the ensemble for 14 years. “It’s amazing, just seeing people enjoy themselves,” he said. “The aim is to have everyone up on their feet jumping and dancing.”
Amid the festivities, some found artistic inspiration in the cherry blossom trees.
Joyce Li, a fourth-year Ph.D. student at the School of Public Health, sat on a picnic blanket surrounded by paint tubes, brushes and palettes, gazing intently at a detailed painting of two cherry blossom trees.
“I came to the festival because I wanted to capture the beautiful scenery of the cherry blossoms,” Li said. “I started to learn Chinese painting when I was six years old, and I have kept studying painting for almost 15 years. Right now, I’m trying to capture the way the light hits the trees.”
Interactive booths created space for visitors to draw and paint. At one stand, children worked on bright watercolor paintings, and at the New Haven Museum booth, people gathered around a large banner to add leaves to the branch of a cherry blossom tree.
Alice Robinson and Hannah Miller, two seven-year-old New Haven residents, watercolored together at a table. Robinson commented on the beauty of the flowers, and shared that she too has a cherry blossom tree at home.
In addition to art, the fair offered a platform for nonprofit and public organizations to share their missions. Among them was New Haven Promise, an organization dedicated to supporting students through academic guidance, career exploration and managing college scholarships and financial aid. Nelly Padilla ran the New Haven Promise booth and shared that she was excited by the sense of community the festival provided.
The festival also featured 25 food trucks to explore, offering a diverse range of food from oysters to grilled cheese.
Holy Guacamole, owned by Emilio and Martha Ponciano, drew a large crowd with their authentic Mexican food. “It’s a family business. My husband’s dream was to have his own business,” Martha said. “It took some time, but it’s worked out.” This was the Ponacianos’ sixth year running the truck and fourth year at the festival.
Cheryl Szcarba, the co-chair of the event, helped coordinate food vendors along with many of the festival's logistics. She said that the Cherry Blossom Festival raises money that goes toward maintaining the bright pink and white flowers that surround Wooster Square each year. As a part of this project, five new trees were planted in 2023. These trees made their festival debut Sunday and were marked by pink ribbons.
“The festival is really just to celebrate the trees in the park, and for everybody to have a great day,” Szcarba said. “I live on Wooster Street, and I just love this park — and I love seeing other people enjoy it.”
The park was listed third in National Geographic’s 2024 “Best Places to See Cherry Blossoms in the U.S.”
Contact Caroline Pecore at caroline.pecore@yale.edu and Estelle Gerber at estelle.gerber@yale.edu.