The National Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing, and we’ve got a lot of performances coming up. But that doesn’t stop us from hosting our open houses! We are continuing to open our practice once a month, allowing Ekoji Sangha members and friends to participate in our warm-ups and drills. We had fun with yesterday’s guests before some serious run-throughs of our sets for the performances we have this week.

Assuming that the freak snowstorm we had yesterday is winter’s last gasp, enjoy the spring weather this weekend with us! We are performing at the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation's (NJAMF) Freedom Walk, which takes place on 4/5 at 9:30AM at the Memorial, located in DC at New Jersey and D St NW.  Later that day, we’ll be headlining the Southwest Waterfront Fireworks event at 8:00PM at the 7th Street Stage in DC near 700 Water Street SW.

We have two more performances coming up on 4/12: 11:30am outside the American Art Museum as part of their Cherry Blossom Family Day and 4:30pm at Sakura Matsuri’s Sakura Stage at 11th and Pennsylvania Ave NW.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

-Victoria

The National Cherry Blossom Festival (NCBF) Family Day gig, hosted at the National Building Museum on 5th and G NW in DC, marked the official kick-off to our 2014 season - get excited!

Nen Daiko closed the afternoon festivities for hundreds of attendees in the 2,000-person-capacity historical venue.  Our set included Man'in, Yatai, Shiawase, and ever-the-fan-favorite, Buchiawase for the strong finish (action shot below).  Most importantly, it was a great first gig for our trainee, Jinelle, and an excellent homecoming performance for our returning member, Chase.  Welcome to you both, and here's to the makings of a great 2014 season!

On that note, our next scheduled gig is the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation's (NJAMF) Freedom Walk, which takes place on 4/5 at 9:30AM at the Memorial, located in DC at New Jersey and D St NW (www.njamf.com/page24/page30/page30.html).  We will also be headlining the Southwest Waterfront Fireworks event, starting later on 4/5 at 8:00PM at the 7th Street Stage in DC near 700 Water Street SW (www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/2013/07/19/southwest-waterfront-fireworks-festival/)

All in all, Family Day was great start to a fun season.  For those who are interested in experiencing taiko first-hand, we will also be hosting open-houses (for more information, please e-mail us at info@nendaiko.org).  See you on 4/5!

- Brig

Although donated over 100 years ago, the 3,000 cherry trees decorating downtown DC don't look a day past 93.  To help celebrate these arboreal beauties and the lasting relationship between Japan and the U.S., Nen Daiko will once again play a variety of shows around town as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival running from March 20th - April 13th.  To find the full list of events for the festival visit the festival webpage at http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/, and view the performances tab at the top of this page to see our upcoming performances.

As a group, we have spent countless hours preparing for this year's festival to make it the most exciting series of events in the group's 20-year history.  Having been a member of Nen Daiko for 3 years now, it never ceases to amaze me how much energy and commitment each member brings to every practice and performance.  When mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, teachers, government employees, military members and other young professionals come together in the spirit of taiko it's hard not to have an amazing time no matter how busy you are outside the temple!  Come and share in the fun as we kick off our 2014 performance season on Saturday March 22nd at the NCBF!  


--Geoff