About the Festival

The Sakura Matsuri - Japanese Street Festival is the largest one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the United States and is proud to be the grand finale of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  Performers and vendors travel from all over the country and the world to Washington, DC to share their love of Japanese culture and traditions with the Festival attendees.

The Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival stretches for six blocks through downtown DC on Pennsylvania Avenue from 9th to 14th Streets NW (from FBI headquarters to near the White House grounds).  Here’s an aerial view of the Festival’s location.

The best way to get to Sakura Matsuri (and the Parade) is to take the Metro. The Federal Triangle station exits next to two Festival entrances, and the Metro Center, Archives-Navy Memorial, and Smithsonian stations are a short walk away.

The Festival is fenced, and there are four entrances (with closest Metro stop):

 Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Street NW (Metro Center)

 Pennsylvania Avenue at Ronald Reagan Building (Federal Triangle)

 12th Street and Constitution Avenue NW (Federal Triangle)

 
10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW (Archives/Navy Memorial)

Both the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and Sakura Matsuri are on April 11, so Metro ridership will be one of the highest in the year. Metro ticket lines can be long, so try to buy your Metro tickets ahead of time. If you buy your ticket Saturday morning, you should buy a round-trip ticket to avoid a second wait at the ticket machines.

Sakura Matsuri tickets can be bought in advance online and at the gate on the day-of for $10 with children 12 and under always free. Ticket sales on the day of the festival are cash only. There will be special entrance gates for pre-paid ticket holders, so we encourage you to get your Sakura Matsuri tickets on-line before you come.