Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival 2018 - HANAMI

Are you a Cumberland Council Area resident? Click HERE to redeem your reserve ticket.

The award-winning Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival is back in 2018 with a massive Line-up for all lovers of blossoms.

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PROGRAM

THE CHERRY TRAIL
9am to 5pm

Follow the Cherry trail around our Japanese Gardens on a self-guided tour.

HELLO KITTY MAKE OVER BAR (2yrs +)
10am to 4pm

Kids come say Konnichiwa to Hello Kitty and her friends. Step inside Hello Kitty’s own beauty bar, and experience her cute one of a kind style. When visiting why not get a cool make-over for free! Choose one of the many designs like hair styling with glitter and styled with the iconic Hello Kitty bow, or get your nails blinged up with Hello Kitty Nail Art and Diamanté. You might even want to try getting your very own Hello Kitty temporary tattoo. You’re now set to get your new make-over pic with the only and only Hello Kitty!

IZAKAYA BAR (ages 18+)
10am to 5pm

Welcome to our Premium Bar experience. Offering the best in Sake and Umeshu (Plum wines) curated by the genius team at Sakeshop in Stanmore. Sakeshop’s Leigh Hudson is a certified Kikisakeshi or ‘sake sommelier’ and he has crafted an exclusive Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival menu including the Hanamikura Aya Cup which is brewed from the Sakura flower. (Cherry blossom).

Also on the menu is world-renowned Japanese craft beer – COEDO BEER. The artisan brewers of Coedo beer closely follow the age-old philosophy of creating exquisite, delicately balanced craft products through painstaking attention to the smallest detail of brewing.

STADIUM SUMO 
9.30am to 3.30pm

Special SMASH! Cosplays fashion walk on Saturday 18 August only at 1.45pm

The Sumos are back! - Stadium Sumo is the home of Sumo wrestlers in the Auburn Botanic Gardens – it’s where you can see professional Sumo matches take place while learning the history and traditions of one of the world’s oldest and most noble sports.

• 11.00 Opening ceremony: Welcome to Country with a special Didgeridoo and Taiko performance


• 11.30am Sumo Match ASA Tournament


• 12.45pm YuNiOn presents Taiko


• 1.00pm Sumo Match GOGO Tournament


• 2.45pm YuNiOn presents Taiko


• 3.00pm Sumo Match SODAI Tournament

SYDNEY CHERRY BLOSSOM FOOD VILLAGE
9am to 5pm

A massive food line-up showcasing Japanese and international cuisines from some of Sydney’s most famous restaurants and popular food trucks, presenting Festival-Only menus AND fusion offerings to complete your Hanami picnic experience.

Mains

• Authentic Turkish Gozleme: A Festival favourite, Authentic Turkish Gozleme is mixing it up with some Japanese-fusion creations.
  Festival Speciality: Teriyaki chicken gozleme


• Bar-B-Skew: Filipino street food. Australian made. Charcoal grilled meats and burgers with traditional flavours. Fusing Japanese yakitori with Filipino street food especially for Cherry Blossom
  Festival Speciality: Yakitori Negima (chicken & onion skewers)


• J-Dog: Try the Japanese version of the Festival hotdog. J-Dog serves up hotdogs and rolls from around the world.
  Festival Speciality: Tokyo Dog


• Mate Burger: Winner of Battle of the Burger for 2018, Mate Burger fuses together Filipino food with American style cooking. The menu will please any Mate!
  Festival Speciality: Japanese fusion Sakura burger with pink milk bun!
  Mediterranean Street Food: Experience the taste and flavours of Greece and beyond!
  Festival Speciality: Fusing Greek tradition with a taste of Japan, try the Takoyaki Yiro!


• Modern Yaki: Our passion is to make people happy with food. Okonomiyaki is one of the most popular foods in Japan.
  Festival Speciality: Okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake) from western Japan.


• Momiji: Authentic and tasty Japanese food
  Festival Speciality: Classic Yakisoba with a traditional Japanese sauce


• Mr Bao: Gourmet pillow-soft steamed buns. Mr. Bao has created a fusion of Vietnamese and Japanese twist to the iconic Taiwanese street food - Gua Baos.
  Festival Speciality: A twist on the traditional bao, try the Festival-special Berry Blossom - lavender & honey ice cream, strawberry crisps & rose, on top of a warm crunchy bao!


• Shiso Fine: Sydney's finest Japanese food truck serving handmade gyoza, yakitori, fresh baguettes, salads & wraps, and unique one-of-a-kind desserts.
  Festival Speciality: Cherry dessert gyoza


• Syoku Samurai: Syoku Samurai offers authentic Japanese street food.
  Festival Speciality: Takoyaki


• The Hardstyle Kitchen: Smoked American BBQ Food Truck
  Festival Speciality: Smoked beef brisket marinated in red miso BBQ sauce


• Tsuru: Cherry Blossom Festival-favourite whipping up pork belly baos. Make sure you try the special spiced Tsuru fries!
  Festival Speciality: BBQ hot & spicy pork belly bao


• Yayoi Garden: Yayoi Garden is a blossoming of Japanese cuisine and culture, with the Japanese garden as the central concept.
  Festival Speciality: Sakura mochi & tea

Desserts and Drinks

• Chatime: Chatime is shaking tea up! We offer milky, fruity and frozen iced tea. We also offer hot tea! You've never had iced tea like this before!


• Fuji Japanese Bakery: A unique Japanese family-owned bakery based in Sydney.
  Festival Speciality: Sakura mocha


• Gelato Messina: We make real gelato with real ingredients. It’s pretty nice. Made fresh on the premises daily.
  Festival Speciality: Aunty Tomsu's Cherry Blossom cheesecake


• Milk N' Sugar: A collective of artisan desserts & sweets brands which is made up of credible, creative and influential brand operators around the world.
  Festival Speciality: Fairy floss bouquet with edible rose petals & unicorn sprinkles


• Mr Creamy Coffee and Ice Cream: Mr Creamy Coffee & Ice Cream offers a refreshment van which includes soft serve ice cream (with a variety of toppings), milkshakes, sundaes, slushies, soft drinks, water, tea & espresso barista made coffee.
  Festival Speciality: Cherry ice cream


• Otsu: Providing the most authentic Japanese desserts, proudly created from Australian locally sourced ingredients.
  Festival Speciality: Sakura taiyaki


• Pull'n Shots Coffee: A unique coffee cart with a point of difference producing an exceptional cup!
  Festival Speciality: Cherry themed waffle cone with fairy floss


• Torch Me Crème Brulee: Flavoured Crème Brûlée made street style.
  Festival Speciality: Green-tea/matcha flavoured crème brulee


• Yuzu Lemonade: The Asian yuzu fruit bursts with the tart, citrus flavors of grapefruit, lemon and mandarin. Spread by Japanese and Korean cuisine, it's a beautiful, premium recipe replacement for lemon or lime.
  Festival Speciality: Iced matcha bulb

The Zen Zone
9am to 5pm

A quiet zone (see ZEN ZONE on our maps) for those seeking some refuge from the hustle and bustle of the Hanami weekends, located in the Auburn Botanic Gardens Billabong Area and will host traditional acoustic performances and Japanese craft workshops.

• 10.00am Koto performance


• 12.00pm and 1.30pm Shakuhachi performances

The Peacock Gallery and Auburn Arts Studio
10am to 4pm

Located on Chiswick Road across from Auburn Botanic Gardens. Free entry to the gallery

Makes Sense Together (Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival Exhibition)

Artists Hayley Megan French and Carla Liesch present a series of public artworks titled Makes Sense Together (Cherry Blossom). The work includes Cherry Blossom ‘Ghillie suits’ displayed inside the Peacock Gallery, three Cherry Blossom Ghillie suit stand-ins dispersed throughout the Festival Gardens and a series of street flags on Chiswick Road.

The Cherry Blossom Ghillie suits installation speak as the connection and disconnection one might find with local environment and communities. However while attempting to ‘fit in’ through the camouflage suit, one inevitably causes the wearer to stand out.

The artists are inviting the Hanami audience to stand in these camouflage suits in their place, celebrating how differences can bring communities together.