The following announcement was made on March 10 by Kevin Elliott, event director of the OC Cherry Blossom Festival, which was scheduled to be held this weekend in Huntington Beach.
“After months of planning to make the 2020 OC Cherry Blossom Festival the most amazing event yet, it is with regret that we must cancel the event scheduled for this coming weekend.
“Our team has worked tirelessly to curate great entertainment, amazing food and the best of Japanese culture, but unfortunately, Mother Nature has not cooperated with us this time.
“In order to set up an event of this scale, our staff and crews need three full days to build the event. With the forecast predicting rain and thunderstorms for the foreseeable future this presented a challenge of setting up in muddy and wet conditions. If the sky clears by Friday in time for our event, that still does not leave enough time for the ground to dry and thousands of people walking through the muddy grass would surely do damage to our amazing park. Protecting our park is one of our highest priorities.
“We are actively working with city officials to find an alternative date to hold the event and hope to make that work. If that’s not possible, you can definitely look forward to an OC Cherry Blossom Festival in 2021. Let’s all hope for better weather!
“For anyone who purchased an advance ticket to our event through our website, we will be issuing a full refund within the coming days. Please allow adequate time for the refund to post to your account.
“On behalf of the entire OC Cherry Blossom team, THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your support of this amazing event. We can’t wait to enjoy a weekend with you soon!”