The Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation will host its inaugural cherry blossom festival March 10 at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 228 Spring St.
The festival will celebrate Japanese culture while raising funds for the student scholarship program.
"In Japan, when the cherry blossoms bloom, everything stops and people enjoy their beauty," said Mary Zunick, executive director of the Sister City Program.
"This will be our first year for the festival. In the past, we've had a small fundraiser sponsored by Dorothy Morris and KYE-YAC, but this year the board talked about hosting a cultural activity."
On hand for the festivities will be Ben Bell, a sake brewer who will be educating guests on the traditional Japanese rice wine; Aya Murata, of the Japan Foundation, who will demonstrate calligraphy and origami; the Japanese folk dance group Bon Odori; and Caren Dodd, chair of the committee and member of the Sister City Foundation Board.
Zunick said she hopes the festival will serve as a reunion for anyone who has been impacted by the Sister City Program over the years.
"We truly mean for this to be a reunion of anyone who has been involved, whether they hosted an exchange student or were a student who traveled to Japan," she said. "We have several people in the community who are former delegates that have the traditional yukatas -- a more casual, brightly colored Kimono -- and we hope they will come and enjoy the festival and share their stories."
The 10 students who will be traveling to Hanamaki in early June will be helping and participating in the festivities, she said.
"We hope that lots of past students will return and take part as well," she said.
The cherry blossom festival will be held on the second floor of St. Luke's from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on March 10. Admission is $35 for adults and $25 for students 18 years and younger. This event is sponsored by the Dorothy Morris Foundation, Arkansas Career Training Institute and Chartwells at Lake Hamilton School District.
Local on 02/22/2018