Students Celebrate Japanese Culture At Annual Cherry Blossom Festival
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The 19th annual Cherry Blossom Festival of Greater Philadelphia is in full bloom with events planned in the area now through Sunday. On Wednesday, it was a lesson in Japanese culture for students at a Germantown school.
Students at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf watched and felt the vibrations of the Taiko drums. They were read and signed a Japanese folk tale too.
"The kids could not have been more fascinated and thrilled," said Marja Brandon, head of school. "And feeling the drums, if you seen them playing with the drums afterwards there is no better way to celebrate this for them"
A grove of cherry trees will be planted at the school later in the spring. The trees are a gift from the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia which puts on the festival each year.
The center piece of the festival is this coming Sunday at the Horticultural Center in West Fairmount Park. A day of festivities include a sushi competition, origami and calligraphy projects and martial arts demonstrations.
