The sixth annual Arkansas Cherry Blossom Festival is shaping up to be bigger than ever as the Hot Springs National Park Sister City Foundation, which hosts the event, expects the largest crowd yet since renaming the festival last year from the Hot Springs Cherry Blossom Festival.
The free event for all ages is slated to take place Sunday, April 2, from 12:30 to 5 p.m. in Bank OZK Arena in the Hot Springs Convention Center. There will be seven cultural workshops and experiences this year, as well as demonstrations, exhibits, musical performances, games and contests.
Each workshop is geared toward teaching attendees about different elements of Japanese culture and life, including music and art, clothing, food and drink, and flowers.
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"This is a really wonderful, free, family-friendly event," said Michelle Gates Roberts, chair of the Arkansas Cherry Blossom Festival. "If you've always thought you might want to travel, but haven't had the opportunity, this is a great way to get a little taste of Japan without having to travel halfway around the world."
The first workshop will actually take place before the festival on March 31 when artist David Warren will teach a class on the art of Mokuhanga woodblock printmaking. The class held in the Liberal Arts Building at National Park College will begin at 10 a.m. and run until around 2 p.m., when the pieces are finished.
With a limited class size of 10 people, the finished works will be displayed at the festival just two days later. The fee of $25 pays for all materials and tools, provided by Aitoh Specialty Paper. Participants should be at least 16 years old.
At 1 p.m., festivalgoers can participate in a yukata experience. Kyoto native Masae Satouchi will teach how to wear a yukata, or summertime kimono, as well as some important facts about the clothing. Satouchi is the founder of New York Kimono Academy and a licensed kimono dresser. The experience costs $40, or $20 for participants who own a yukata, obi and koshimo.
"It's a light cotton; it's great for summertime," Roberts said. "Because it does get hot and humid in Japan, as well."
Also at 1 p.m. is a workshop on ikebana, or the Japanese art of flower arranging. In the $15 workshop, Adrianne Kahn, an expert in ikebana, will lead participants through making their own arrangement while teaching them the 600-year history of the art form. Children under 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
"It looks very simple, but it's not," Roberts said. "There is intention and design to everything that takes place."
The next lecture at 2 p.m. is on the topic of manga, or Japanese comics and cartooning. Kae Hashimoto Reed of Arkansas Tech University will guide listeners through the history of manga and its place in pop culture. The lecture is free, but registration is required due to limited space.
The Zen of Cherry Blossoms is next on the schedule at 3:30 p.m. with a lecture by the Hot Springs Buddhist Society on the connection between Zen Buddhism and the cherry blossom. The $25 workshop comes with a singing bowl which participants will be taught how to use for easing the anxiety and suffering of daily life.
One of the last workshops at 4 p.m. is on hanamochi. "Hana" means flower while "mochi" means rice cake in Japanese. This workshop shares the northern Japanese tradition of creating flowers out of branches and rice during the cold winters when no flowers are in bloom. Also led by Reed, this $15 workshop is open to all ages, although children younger than 12 must be accompanied by an adult. The fee pays for the materials for participants to make their very own hanamochi to take home.
The only experience with multiple time slots is hosted by newly-founded Hot Springs sake brewery, Origami Sake. They will teach about the history, culture and craft of brewing fine sake in three sessions at 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m. The workshop is $25. Participants who are at least 21 years old will also get the chance to be one of the first to taste the locally-made product.
"It is delicious," Roberts said. "I got a sneak-peak, or sneak-taste, and it's really wonderful."
Roberts says they expect about 1,500 people at this year's event, the most in its six-year history.
To sign up for any of the seven workshops or lectures, visit https://hotspringssistercity.org/sign-up-for-workshops/.
A yukata (summertime kimono) experience is planned with Kyoto native Masae Satouchi to teach about the outfit and how to wear it. The workshop costs $40, or $20 for those that own a yukata, obi and koshimo. - Submitted photo.
Hot Springs' newly-opened Origami Sake will host a sake experience teaching the history, culture and craft of brewing sake. Participants of drinking age will get the chance to be among the first to taste the sake brewed here in Hot Springs. - Submitted photo.