It’s jarring enough when Christmas merchandise hits the shelves the day after Halloween. So, you can imagine the whiplash I felt when I received a press release announcing that “tickets to the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade are now on sale” yesterday.
Yes, that’s right; it’s mid-October, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival is already hyping up the 2023 season—despite intervening days known as “Thanksgiving,” “Christmas,” and “New Year’s.”
But! This is about the time grandstand tickets go on sale every year, according to Cynthia Sutton, a spokesperson for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. And it makes sense: She says people give the tickets as holiday presents—which is actually a pretty great gift idea for people who prefer experiences over material items.
It’s still free to watch the parade from the street, but whether you’d like to gift some sweet grandstand tickets this season or just like to plan six months in advance (to be fair, Sutton said the seats often sell out), tickets for the April 15 parade are now on sale here.
