Thousands of local residents celebrated the first day of the National Cherry Blossom Festival…

Jessica Forres was there for some of the events…



[NAT: DRUMMERS]

Near Union Station, Taiko drummers are performing in front of the National Japanese American Memorial. About 2-hundred people are getting ready for the 11th annual Freedom Walk. It commemorates the military service of Japanese Americans and their internment during World War II.

Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki… watches the performance…

IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER OF COURSE THE MILITARY SERVICE OF JAPANESE AMERICANS THROUGH VERY HARD EXPERIENCES AND INTERNMENT WAS A VERY HARD EXPERIENCE AND THEY HAVE OVERCOME AND I THINK IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER IT.

The walk kicked off the two-week long Cherry Blossom Festival. The tradition dates back to 1912, when Japan donated the first of the famous Yoshino Cherry trees in a gesture of friendship. For some local residents, such as Quail Rogers-Bloch, the festival is a celebration of spring. Her favorite event...the Kite Festival near the Washington Monument...

[THE KITE FESTIVAL IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITES..]

The Cherry Blossoms are expected to be in full bloom between April 1st and April 4th.

Nearly 50 children are spending their summer trying to get healthy in Alexandria, Virginia.

An organization called Children of Chernobyl... sends children to Alexandria from areas in Belarus -- contaminated by the 1986 nuclear reactor explosion.

I caught up with a few of them at a local swimming pool.

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AAA released its Memorial Day Weekend Travel Forecast...

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