Thousands crowd Blackburn Park for annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Like a scene from Woodstock, hordes of fans filled Blackburn Park to watch music concerts.

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Music, arts and crafts, antique cars take the spotlight

Brookhaven, GA, April 1, 2019 – From live music concerts to classic cars, thousands of visitors flooded into Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dunwoody Road, this weekend to enjoy the fifth annual Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival. Even a dip in the temperatures on Sunday failed to put a damper on the fun at what City officials are calling the largest crowd ever at the annual event.

Over the two-day music and arts extravaganza, guests were treated to an all-star music line up with free concerts from solo performers like Wesley Cook to heavy hitters like Smash Mouth, Spin Doctors and The Romantics with supporting performances provided by The Marías, Josie Dunne, and HONNA. The Grammy-award winning Wallflowers, led by Jakob Dylan, closed the festival with a riveting rock finale.   

Visitors over both days shopped for a wide variety of arts and crafts along an avenue of over 100 vendors and were treated to live demonstrations of pottery making, paper marbling, blacksmithing, musical instrument making and painting. Also on hand were live dog performance demonstrations and endurance courses such as one allowing dogs to “chase” a moving decoy around a portion of the park’s soccer field. The nearby baseball field was dedicated solely to youngsters with an abundance of kid-friendly entertainment including bounce houses, face painting, trampolines and harness jump devices and other activities.

Nearly 50 classic cars, ranging from 1930s Ford Model A models to souped-up Mustangs and Corvettes delighted antique car enthusiasts.  Nearby guests lined up for a variety of “festival fare” ranging from barbecue to Greek sandwiches offered by a host of food trucks.

The City of Brookhaven partnered with Live Nation and Splash Festivals to produce this year’s event. As a prequel to each year’s festival, a special 5k road race was held on March 23 sponsored by Oglethorpe University and designated as a 2019 Peachtree Road Race qualifier. This year’s race raised $10,000 for the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, more than doubling the amount raised last year. There were 379 runners participating in this year’s event.   

The popular event plans to return for its sixth year next spring.

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Jakob Dylan, leader of The Wallflowers, was the headline music act on Sunday at this year’s Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival.
Thousands visited over 100 arts and crafts booths at the Festival.
The Kidz Zone provided a variety of bounce houses and options for energetic young Cherry Blossom Festival guests.
From memories of the Great Gatsby to 1960s hot rods, the annual classic car show at the Festival is always a huge hit.
Visitors to the Cherry Blossom Festival had a wide array of food options ranging from barbecue to Greek sandwiches.
The Atlanta Braves’ Heavy Hitters drumline wound its way through Festival crowds sharing their musical, interactive beat.
Taking stage at the Festival was HONNA, a four-piece indie-jazz rock band hailing from Charleston, SC.
The Kidz Zone provided a variety of bounce houses and options for energetic young Cherry Blossom Festival guests.
Popular entertainer Josie Dunn heated things up on stage.
The Kidz Zone filled an entire baseball field and offered fun entertainment for kids from bouncy houses to face painting.
The Marías provided a smooth rendezvous of jazz percussion, hypnotic guitar riffs and velvet vocals to Festival music fans.
Popular dog performance demonstrations entertained guests at the Festival.
Artisans demonstrated their crafts such as Devanie Schilpp from Atlanta Clay Works.
The Romantics, known for some of the most influential and beloved rock-and-roll of all time, took Cherry Blossom Stage.
One lucky music fan was invited onstage to perform with Smash Mouth as the group headlined the Saturday music line-up.
The Spin Doctors provided lively entertainment for Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival fans.
Dubbed the “Best Atlanta Singer-Songwriter of 2014,” Wesley Cook provided an upbeat rhythm to the music fest.
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