VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – Cherry blossoms in Red Wing Park’s Japanese Garden are at their peak, while the ones in the promenade are not far behind.

It comes just as the city’s Cherry Blossom Festival starts Saturday and continues through April 2.

The cherry blossoms in the Japanese Garden, found near the entrance to the park, are peaking now.

However, due to the colder weather in the past week, peak bloom in the promenade has been delayed.

Last week, the promenade cherry blossoms “look[ed] to be in Stage 4,” but are now between Stages 5 and 6 – Stage 5 being puffy white and Stage 6 being peak bloom.

However, with warmer weather and sun over the next few days, the Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation expects peak bloom in the promenade to take place near the end of this weekend or early next week.

“On the other hand, the Japanese Garden is flourishing,” Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation said in a Facebook post Wednesday. “The cherry blossom trees inside are categorically in peak bloom, complementing the landscape wonderfully into a truly scenic traditional Japanese Garden.”

Videos of cherry blossoms from the Japanese Garden

Because cherry blossom trees are phenological and driven by heat, and because the red gravel in the Japanese Garden retains more heat and thus is warmer than elsewhere in the park, the trees there bloomed earlier than in the promenade.

The 150 Yoshino cherry blossom trees in Red Wing Park were all donated as part of the Miyazaki Garden expansion plan and plated by the Japan Educational Cultural Center and the Miyazaki Sister City Committee in 2005.

Cherry blossom videos from the promenade

Want to go?

Virginia Beach’s Cherry Blossom Festival at Red Wing Park begins Saturday and continues through April 2. The festival is sponsored by Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation, the Sister Cities Association of Virginia Beach, the Japan Education Culture Center Inc., and is supported by the Virginia Beach Koto society, Old Dominion University’s Martial Arts program and Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Japanese programs and clubs.

The event is modeled after the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.

See below for a schedule of events.

Feature video by WAVY chief photographer Jeff Myers. Other videos and photos by WAVY digital content producer Jimmy LaRoue.