The Tidal Basin is the top spot, with nearly 3,800 Yoshino trees ringing the Jefferson Memorial along a 2.1-mile accessible loop. In 2026 peak bloom arrived March 26, ahead of the NPS forecast of March 29 to April 1. The National Cherry Blossom Festival ran March 20 to April 12.
In brief
The Tidal Basin is the top spot, with nearly 3,800 Yoshino cherry trees ringing the Jefferson Memorial along a 2.1-mile accessible loop. In 2026 peak bloom arrived March 26, ahead of the NPS forecast of March 29 to April 1. The National Cherry Blossom Festival ran March 20 to April 12, with free events daily along the water.
What 'peak bloom' actually means
Peak bloom is the point when 70 percent or more of the Yoshino cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin have opened. Once peak bloom begins, the blossoms typically remain on the trees for seven to ten days. The NPS tracks six stages on the way there, so you can follow weekly updates and plan accordingly.
In 2026 peak bloom landed on March 26, several days ahead of the NPS original forecast of March 29 to April 1. A warm stretch in the 70s pushed the trees from Stage 5 (Puffy White) to peak in roughly five days, and rain plus 20 to 30 mph wind gusts in the following week accelerated petal drop.
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.
The Tidal Basin
The Tidal Basin is the epicenter of cherry blossom viewing for good reason. The 2.1-mile loop trail wraps around the water and is lined with nearly 4,000 cherry trees, offering uninterrupted views of the blossoms against a backdrop of marble memorials. The loop is level and wheelchair-accessible, with accessible restrooms and parking near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Jefferson Memorials.
The closest Metro stop is Smithsonian on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines. From there it is a 10 to 15 minute walk to the Tidal Basin paddleboats at 1501 Maine Avenue SW. Paddleboat rentals put you out on the water with the Jefferson Memorial framed directly ahead. Arrive at sunrise. Midday on a weekend during peak bloom is genuinely overwhelming.
More than 1.5 million people from around the world travel to DC for the chance to see the more than 3,700 Yoshino trees that line the Tidal Basin. Plan for traffic and limited parking.
What's new along the Tidal Basin in 2026
The National Cherry Blossom Festival's center of activities, now called BloomFest, moved to the south lawn of the Jefferson Memorial. Visitors found live music, a beer garden, merchandise sales, and National Park Service ranger activities. It ran March 27 to April 11.
The National Park Service also plans to plant 400 new trees, and some will be descendants of a legendary cherry blossom tree called Stumpy. Plant material from Stumpy, the hollow but resilient Yoshino cherry tree removed from the Tidal Basin in 2024, has been successfully propagated by the U.S. National Arboretum.
East Potomac Park and Hains Point
If you miss the Yoshino peak, East Potomac Park gives you a second chance. Kwanzan cherry trees primarily grow in East Potomac Park. Coming into bloom two weeks later than the Yoshino, the upright Kwanzan branches produce heavy clusters of pink double blossoms.
East Potomac Park sits on a peninsula that juts into the Potomac River. The Hains Point Loop Trail, a 4.1-mile path around the park's perimeter, is lined with nearly 500 Kwanzan cherry trees. The trees are planted along the water on both sides, so the pink flowers reflect off the Potomac River and Washington Channel. A road circles the peninsula, so it is also easy to enjoy the blossoms from your car.
The U.S. National Arboretum
A short drive northeast of downtown, the U.S. National Arboretum covers 446 acres and displays a wide variety of cherry tree species. The sprawling public park has the most diverse collection of cherry trees in the U.S., nearly 100 varieties, including homegrown hybrids that have quietly reshaped landscapes nationwide. Because the Arboretum hosts many species, blooms occur at different times; some trees flower in early March, while others bloom well into April. Highlights include the National Capitol Columns, 22 Corinthian columns that once supported the U.S. Capitol's east portico.
Admission to the National Arboretum, including the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum, is free and no tickets are needed. The grounds are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the year except Christmas Day.
Kenwood, Bethesda (Maryland)
Just over the DC line in Montgomery County, the Kenwood neighborhood in Bethesda draws thousands every spring. The neighborhood has around 1,200 Yoshino cherry blossom trees. In the 1930s and 1940s, a local developer planted cherry trees to attract home buyers to the area. Today the streets along Kennedy Drive, Dorset Avenue, and Kenwood Avenue form a full pink canopy overhead.
The Kenwood Citizens Association has strict rules for cherry blossom season: no picking flowers, climbing trees, or driving fast. The organization also hires off-duty Montgomery County Police officers on the busiest weekends to prevent traffic jams. Viewing is free, though the neighborhood does not allow parking in many spots to keep traffic moving.
Other spots worth knowing
Popular alternative spots include the National Arboretum, Congressional Cemetery, and Oxon Run Park in DC; Brookside Gardens, National Harbor, and Kenwood in Maryland; and Arlington National Cemetery and Founder's Park in Virginia.
The historic estate of Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown is another option. Its Cherry Hill houses three different species of cherry blossom trees, along with several other flowering trees.
Congressional Cemetery, near the Anacostia River, has a pathway with a natural archway made of cherry trees. The center of the pathway has Okame cherry blossoms and the ends have Kwanzan, giving visitors a longer window both before and after DC's official peak bloom.
Tips for timing your visit
Track the NPS bloom stage updates. The National Park Service issues an initial bloom forecast in late February and updates it weekly.
Yoshino peak at the Tidal Basin typically runs a few days to a week. 2026 peaked March 26; 2025 peaked March 28; 2024 peaked an unusually early March 17.
Kwanzan trees in East Potomac Park bloom roughly two weeks after Yoshinos, giving late visitors a second window.
The National Arboretum has more than 100 cherry varieties blooming on a longer cycle.
Go early. Sunrise at the Tidal Basin means fewer people and soft light on the water.
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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.
