When is the best time to see cherry blossoms in DC?
The cherry blossoms at DC's Tidal Basin typically peak in the last week of March to the first week of April, when 70% of the roughly 3,800 Yoshino trees are in full flower. That window lasts only 7 to 10 days. The National Park Service issues updated forecasts starting in late February each year.
In brief
The cherry blossoms at DC's Tidal Basin typically peak in the last week of March to the first week of April, when 70% of the roughly 3,800 Yoshino trees are in full flower. That window lasts only 7 to 10 days and shifts with the weather every year. The National Park Service issues updated forecasts starting in late February, so check NPS Bloom Watch before you book anything.
What 'peak bloom' actually means
Peak bloom is the date when 70% of Yoshino cherry blossoms are flowering at the Tidal Basin. Once peak bloom begins, the blossoms typically remain on the trees for seven to ten days. Wind, rain, and warm spells can cut that window short fast. Wind is often a large factor, as it blows blooms off the trees.
The NPS tracks six phenological stages before declaring peak bloom: green buds, florets visible, extension of florets, peduncle elongation, puffy white, and finally, peak bloom. The NPS issues an initial bloom forecast in late February and updates it weekly.
Recent peak bloom dates
Recent NPS-observed peak bloom dates: 2026 was March 26; 2025 was March 28; 2024 was an unusually early March 17; 2023 was March 23; 2022 was March 22 to 25; 2021 was March 28; 2020 was March 20; 2019 was April 1.
According to The Washington Post, the average historical peak bloom date for DC falls around April 4, but that average has crept earlier over the past two decades as regional temperatures rise. Translation: plan for late March, but keep April 1 to 4 in your back pocket in case of a cold winter.
The best time of day to go
Go early. Really early. The local secret is to arrive at the Tidal Basin on weekday mornings from sunrise (around 7:20 AM) until about 10:00 AM. The memorials never close and the basin has no gate, so early morning is free, uncrowded, and softly lit.
During peak bloom weekends, the Tidal Basin sees 100,000 or more visitors per day. Weekday mornings are significantly less crowded. If a weekday is impossible, aim for the first hour after sunrise on a Saturday before the tour buses roll in. Arrive at 7 AM and you'll enjoy calm pathways. By 10 AM, the same spots can feel congested.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival honors the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo's Mayor Yukio Ozaki to Washington, DC. The festival runs about four weeks and wraps up with a parade down Constitution Avenue. In 2026, the festival ran from March 20 through April 12 and included the Blossom Kite Festival on March 28, Petalpalooza on April 4, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade on April 11.
Where to go beyond the Tidal Basin
The Tidal Basin is the obvious draw, but it is far from the only option in the DMV.
East Potomac Park / Hains Point: East Potomac Park, just south of the Tidal Basin on Hains Point, holds hundreds of additional cherry trees including Akebono and Kwanzan varieties that bloom slightly later than the Yoshinos, effectively extending the season. The loop road there is quieter, bikeable, and offers unobstructed Potomac River views that the main basin path cannot match.
Kenwood, Bethesda, MD: The origin of the trees in this Montgomery County community dates to the 1930s and 40s, when a developer planted cherry trees to attract homebuyers. Today, 1,200 trees line every street in the neighborhood. The Kenwood cherry blossoms bloom a few days to a week after the cherry blossoms in DC, so if you miss the Washington DC bloom, Kenwood is a good fallback. Street parking is not allowed; the best place to park is in the lot off Landy Lane, from which you can walk the Capitol Crescent Trail and take the first left to enter the neighborhood.
U.S. National Arboretum, Northeast DC: Kwanzan cherries in East Potomac Park and Hains Point typically burst two weeks after the Yoshinos, and the U.S. National Arboretum hosts dozens of species with staggered bloom times, ensuring flowers throughout spring.
Getting there
The cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin are accessible via the Smithsonian Metro stop on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines. Metro is the practical choice on peak weekends. If you drive, expect competition for parking spots, especially on weekends around peak bloom. Free parking is available at East Potomac Park, and paid garages sit at L'Enfant Plaza and The Wharf.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
