| Early bird tickets are now open for the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival, NSW’s largest flower festival and Australia’s premier celebration of Japanese culture and cuisine. |
| Set against the made-for-Instagram canvas of the Japanese Gardens,the festival runs from Saturday 17 August – Sunday 25 August at the Auburn Botanic Gardens. This year the festival will celebrate Japan’s rich culinary traditions and cultural exports (fun), the splendour of the Cherry Blossoms and Auburn Botanic Gardens (flowers) and Japan’s unique contributions to health and well-being with practices like “forest bathing” (feel good). In 2019 festival organisers are delighted to announce that Japanese food expert, author and television host Adam Liaw has been commissioned to create the first of its kind Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival Bento Box. “Eating from a bento box is a huge part of celebrating Cherry Blossom season in Japan,” said Official Goodwill Ambassador for Japanese CuisineAdam Liaw. “Cherry blossom viewing and food go hand in hand, and across Japan people gather with friends and family to see the blossoms bloom, but also to picnic and have a good time. “There’s even a Japanese saying “hana yori dango,” which roughly translates to “dumplings over flowers”, which means to appreciate good food even more than the beauty of the blossoms. “The bento box is the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival in miniature – a celebration of the meeting of Japanese and Australian cultures, creating something dynamic and new just like the first blossoms of the new season.” If you need something to wash your one-of-a-kind bento box down with, look no further than the Festival’s very own izakaya (Japanese pop-up bar), serving sake and internationally recognised Japanese craft beer label Coedo beer. Leigh Hudson from Sakeshop Sydney is providing fine quality sake for visitors. “Australians are visiting Japan in record numbers and really enjoying the culture, the food and of course the sake.” “We want to make sake accessible to our customers and to also introduce sake to those who have never tried good sake before. It is the perfect drink to sip with friends beneath the blossoms.” Sakeshop Sydney will be selling cups of Hanamikura Aya sake during the Festival, made from a very rare yeast extracted from the Cherry Blossom flower. For the full program of fun, flowers and feel good, or to buy early bird tickets visit cumberland.nsw.gov.au/sydney-cherry-blossom-festival |
