2020 High Park Cherry Blossom Virtual Tour: History

We'll bring spring to you. Enjoy this stunning footage of this year's cherry blossoms in High Park, while it is closed for public safety reasons to prevent the spread of COVID19, and learn about the history of Toronto's cherry blossom trees.

For the best viewing experience, change your YouTube quality settings to 1080p HD.

Info: toronto.ca/cherryblossoms

Transcript:

• High Park is one of the largest parks in Toronto. It is home to a beautiful collection of ornamental flowering cherry trees.

• The cherry trees on ‘Cherry Lane’ were a gift to the City of Toronto and its residents. They were donated to Toronto in 1959 by the citizens of Tokyo as a symbol of friendship between Japan and Canada.

• Cherry blossom viewing season is known as Sakura Hanami in Japan and has been marked there for hundreds of years. Sakura means cherry blossom and Hanami means flower viewing. Tracking the progression of blossoms northward marks the arrival of spring in Japan.

• In Toronto, cherry blossom season is a beloved spring tradition. Torontonians have been enjoying the Sakura trees in High Park for almost 60 years.