San Francisco welcomed spring with the 57th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival.
Thousands of people recently flocked to the city’s Japantown for the opening ceremony of the festival.
Organizers say it's a celebration of Japanese and Japanese American culture.
The event comes as the Japanese prime minister gifted new cherry blossom trees to the White House.
"I think that's a good strong sign of connection between the two countries. And so, even behind me, I have cherry blossom trees in the peace plaza as well as through some of our Buchanan Mall. So it's a good symbol of the community,” said Cherry Blossom Festival co-chair Matthew Nagatomi.
The Japanese Cultural and Community Center hosted more events leading up this weekend. It will culminate in a parade at 1 p.m. Sunday.
NBC Bay Area’s Mike Inouye is emceeing the parade. NBC Bay Area will also be streaming the event live on Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Fire TV And Google TV.
For more information, visit sfcherryblossom.org.
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