It’s cherry blossom season at Hasselt’s Japanese Garden from 8 March to 13 April

Every spring, the Hanami Cherry Blossom Festival transforms the Japanese Garden in Hasselt into a vision of pink petals.

The ephemeral display is on show at the largest Japanese garden in Europe from 8 March to 13 April. It boasts some 225 different varieties of cherry trees to ensure a prolonged spring flowering as the trees are notoriously capricious and unpredictable.

Hanami is an ancestral tradition in Japan and is imbued with the Japanese philosophy of contemplating the beauty of the present moment.

The gardens, just outside the city centre, host a programme of activities every weekend. There’s also Japanese street food stands and traditional drinks on sale so that visitors can enjoy an alfresco picnic.

For an even more immersive experience, the festival stages late-night events on 11, 19 and 27 March, as well as 4 April. When the sun sets, lanterns light up and the garden becomes a perfect place for strolling under the cherry trees.

On 13 April, the hanami season ends in style with the show Sakura, a fusion of traditional Japanese music and dance. It is performed by koto and shamisen virtuoso Mayumi Ono, dancer and choreographer Eiren Nishikawa and musician and dancer Hazuki Isobe. The delicate chords of the koto blend with the aerial grace of the dancers for a moment suspended between modernity and tradition.

Japanese Garden Hasselt
8 March to 13 April
Gouverneur Verwilghensingel 15
Hasselt
Limburg province

Photos: ©Japanese Garden Hasselt