Hello Kitty, who is celebrating her 50th anniversary this year, will be the Grand Marshal of the parade.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, March 23, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 57th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival (NCCBF) is coming back on the weekends of April 13-14 and April 20-21, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. We are honored to be one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Japanese and Japanese American culture, as well as the largest Cherry Blossom Festival in the West Coast. Based in one of three remaining Japantowns in the United States, our Festival symbolizes the arrival of spring and cherry blossoms in San Francisco.

Since 1968, the NCCBF has served to cultivate a strong alliance between Japan and the United States, to showcase the vibrant colors and grace of Japanese culture, and to represent the diversity of San Francisco’s Japantown community. The Festival audience has grown considerably for the past 57 years, typically hosting more than 220,000 guests over the course of two weekends. The Festival helps to bring together local artists, non-profit food booths, cultural groups and performers to celebrate the arrival of spring in the City. This year we are so excited to have Hello Kitty as our Parade Grand Marshal, as 2024 marks her 50th anniversary year.

Some of the programming Festival attendees can look forward to include:.

April 7
57th Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Queen Program, which is scheduled for Sunday, April 7th at the Cowell Theater (2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94123). Doors will open at 5pm; the program will start at 6pm.

April 13, 14, 20 and 21
Local art and craft vendors
Non-Profit Food Bazaar
Sapporo Beer Garden (must be age 21 and over)
Community and sponsor information booths
Live musical performances (Webster Street Stage)
Cultural performances (Peace Plaza, Japanese Community Center of Northern California and AMC Kabuki 8 stages).
Children's Cherry Blossom Village, Kodomo no Sakura Machi (Post Street and inside the KOHO Creative Hub in East Mall) NOTE: Children’s Village is not open on Sunday, April 21

April 19th
The Friendship Reception will be returning for the first time this year since 2019. This event is where we will welcome our Japan guests and out-of-state guests to our Festival.

Sunday, April 21
Senior Appreciation Brunch in Hotel Kabuki will thank seniors throughout the Northern California Japanese American community for their dedicated volunteer services and leadership.
The 2024 Grand Parade with Grand Marshal Hello Kitty and Benkyodo store owners, Bobby and Ricky Okamura as Community Marshals. The parade begins at the Civic Center Plaza and proceeds up Polk Street to Post Street, ending in Japantown at the corner of Post and Filmore Streets.

The Festival encourages all attendees to enter the official Festival raffle. Information is available at the info booth. Tickets are available at the Info Booth: $2.00 each or $10.00 for 6 tickets. Top 3 prizes are: a round-trip ticket to Japan courtesy of Japan Airlines; 5-day, 4-night Carnival Cruise for Two courtesy of AMC Marketing, and a EUYBIKE K6 Electric Road Bike courtesy of EbikeProducts.com.

We look forward to celebrating with all of our attendees!

Visit our website at nccbf.org, Facebook @nccbf (https://www.facebook.com/NCCBF/), Instagram @nc_cbf (https://www.instagram.com/nc_cbf/)

Press Contact
Akiko Bates
prmarketing@nccbf.org

About Sanrio^®:
Sanrio^® is the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty^® who was created in 1974, and home to many other beloved character brands such as My Melody™, Kuromi™, LittleTwinStars™, Cinnamoroll™, Pompompurin™, gudetama™, Aggretsuko™, Chococat™, Badtz-mMaru™ and Keroppi™. Sanrio was founded on the philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that promote communication and inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s business extends into the entertainment industry with several content series, gaming offerings and theme parks. Sanrio boasts an extensive product lineup which is available in over 130 countries. Sanrio hopes to bring smiles to everyone’s faces with their vision of “One World, Connecting Smiles.” To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow @sanrio and @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel.

Akiko Bates
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
prmarketing@nccbf.org
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