FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Norma Kelly
norma@jrcommunications.com
National Cherry Blossom Festival Announces 2023 “People’s Petal Porch” Winners
Part of Petal Porches presented by Amazon, the Festival honors the winner of the most popular porch
Washington, D.C. [April 19, 2023] — The National Cherry Blossom Festival is pleased to announce the winning entries for the Petal Porches “People’s Petal Porch” competition – including Ward 6 resident Lauren Stockwell for her “The House of 1,000 Cranes – Somewhere over the Crainbow” entry, featuring over 1,000 paper cranes symbolizing hope, healing, and good health. Presented by Amazon, Petal Porches celebrates the season through the decoration of porches, yards, and windows in all things pink and blossoms to celebrate the return of spring and the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival.
The People’s Petal Porch honor is awarded to the most popular porch. The eight D.C. ward porches, chosen from Prime Petal Porches, competed for the most votes in a competition-style bracket on the Festival Instagram account (@CherryBlossFest). Thousands voted in the online competition, and the Official Petal Porches Map had 26K+ views throughout the Festival of its 300 registered Porches for the program in 2023.
“The goal of Petal Porches is to bring local neighborhoods together to celebrate spring and build community pride during the Festival,” said Diana Mayhew, president and CEO of National Cherry Blossom Festival. “This year’s competition for the People’s Porch Winner was fierce with hundreds of participants in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia taking part in the overall Petal Porches competition.”
People’s Petal Porch Winners included:
- Washington, DC – House of 1,000 Cranes – Somewhere Over the Crainbow (Owner Lauren Stockwell, Ward 6)
- Virginia – VA VA Bloom (Owner Amy Anda from Alexandria)
- Maryland – Sakura Tea Bliss (Owner Theresa Billow-Supple from Columbia)
“Amazon is thrilled to partner again with the National Cherry Blossom Festival to bring the joy of the cherry blossoms to the region, including neighboring areas right here near Amazon’s National Landing home in Virginia,” said Patrick Phillippi, senior manager of community engagement for Amazon. “We congratulate Lauren Stockwell and all of our winners on their creativity, igniting community pride through this unique celebration of spring.”
Get the latest news by signing up for e-mail updates on the Festival website.
Images can be found here.
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About the National Cherry Blossom Festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the world’s great celebrations of spring. The 2023 Festival, March 20-April 16, will include four weeks of events featuring diverse and creative programming promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty, and community spirit. Leadership Circle Sponsors for the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival are Events DC and Amazon. Add the 2023 Festival dates and signature event dates to your calendar, and visit NationalCherryBlossomFestival.org or email tickets@ncbfdc.org for more information. Get the latest updates via email, and be sure to follow the Festival on Facebook (@CherryBlossomFestival), Instagram (@CherryBlossFest), Twitter (@CherryBlossFest) and YouTube (@CherryBlossFest).
