5 Highlights from the 2018 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival

The 2018 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival went down last weekend – which, while technically was the first weekend of spring, didn’t quite feel that way. Fortunately, though, a few clouds did not stop the fun or take away from our first experience at the Cherry Blossom Festival at all!

The girls and I arrived at around Noon on Saturday. We were a little unsure of the parking situation, so we ignored the first 2 stops we found for a park and ride shuttle. Pro tip: Don’t ignore those! They truly are the best and most efficient way to get to the festival. Shuttles were running constantly and the drop off and pickup locations were super convenient.

So after a great start to the festival – no kids whining about a long walk and knowing exactly where I parked – we got started exploring all of what the Cherry Blossom Fest had to offer. These were what we found to be some of the highlights of our experience:

KidsZone

I kinda have to list this one first since (not surprisingly) it was the area we spent the most time in. There were the usual things like bouncy houses and such, but also lots of really unique attractions the kids were excited to explore. The obstacle race, slingshot, and “Meltdown” were 3 of our favorites.

These weren’t free, but tickets for the kids rides were sold at a decent price and we ended up having leftover tickets we passed on to another family.

Auto Show

I was literally shocked that my kids enjoyed this so much! They loved seeing the vintage models and got really excited when they’d see people driving them around.

Dog Shows

So, we’ve been having the discussion of getting a dog now for while and the question of whether or not they could leave with one of the dogs did come up. Instead of having to agree to that, we enjoyed seeing the dog races, pet parades, and stuff happening in the doggie park.

Food and Drinks…as in adult drinks!

The food selection was eclectic – with everything from Corndogs to Jamaican food to vegan cuisine. We had a hard time deciding what we wanted to try, but ultimately went with whichever one took cards since I of course, forgot to bring cash. Jamaican – it was delish!

And yes, adult drinks! Several booths. YES!

Artist Market

I really loved this area because it’s never easy to find so many unique gifts and decor, homemade goods, etc. in one place. There were literally rows are vendors, each selling some super cool items. We left with some homemade soaps and vendor info for a few more trinkets I’d like to get pretty soon.

Honorable Mention: Live Music

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see but one of the artist performing (read: KidsZone), but since I absolutely love live music, I would’ve loved to have spent more time there. The lineup included artists such as country music star Keith Anderson, Five for Fighting, Transviolet and Hannah Wicklund and the Stepping Stones.