The County of Hawaiʻi Department of Parks and Recreation announced that next month’s Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival is cancelled due to the high number of COVID-19 cases on Hawaiʻi Island.

In a press release Maurice Messina, Director of Parks and Recreation said, “On January 6, 2022, the coordinating committee of the Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival met to discuss the upcoming event, which was scheduled for February 5, at various sites throughout Waimea.  At the meeting, concerns were raised about the current surge of Covid-19 cases on Hawai‘i Island and if it is appropriate at this time to hold an event that has traditionally attracted 30,000+ visitors to the Waimea area. Many people have worked hard to make the Cherry Blossom Festival one of the island’s premier events, and the committee expressed that they felt obligated to cancel this year’s event out of concern and love for their community.”  Messina added, “The coordinating committee and the department’s Culture & Education Division will work on a plan to pay tribute to all those who have helped bring the Cherry Blossom Festival from its humble beginnings to what is now a cherished annual event on our island.  Several community partners have already pledged their support to assist in developing, coordinating, and producing newspaper inserts to ensure our communities can reminisce about what makes this annual tradition so special.”