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Every spring, tens of thousands of people flock to High Park in Toronto to catch a glimpse of one of the city’s most fleeting spectacles: the cherry blossom bloom.
The delicate flowers typically peak between mid-April and mid-May. High Park says its cherry blossoms reached peak bloom on Friday, and with the cool, calm weather in the forecast, the flowers could last up to 10 days. (The park has closed its roads to vehicles for the duration of the bloom, as thousands are expected to make their way to the park hillside over the coming days.)
The cherry blossoms are already drawing families, photographers, seniors and newcomers to the park hillside — people from all around the city converging to experience the same moment.
For Byron Zhou, a third-year electrical engineering student, the timing was perfect.
“It just feels like spring,” he said, visiting the park the day after his last exam with his mother, Janet, by his side.
Among the crowd was a group of women in flowing red skirts, dancing on the hill to the delight of onlookers. Lucy Zhao, who has lived in Canada for over 30 years, organized the outing through Parkway Forest Community Centre. More than 70 per cent of her group are seniors, and half are new immigrants — for many, it was their first time visiting High Park.
The blossoms, however, are more fragile than they look. Rohith Rao, development director at High Park Nature Centre, said the sheer volume of visitors poses a real threat to the trees. Pulling down branches or climbing trunks for photos makes the trees susceptible to disease and long-term damage.
“You want to leave them for the birds and wildlife to enjoy, because this is also their home,” Rao said.
And while most visitors arrive with their eyes fixed upward, Carolynne Crawley wants them to look down. The co-founder of Turtle Protectors says baby turtles — some no bigger than a coin — emerge from nests on the same park hill every spring, right as the blossoms open. Her volunteers quietly monitor the hillside, protecting hatchlings and guiding them safely to water.
“Everybody’s busy looking up,” Crawley said. “We’re trying to get people to look down.”
