2013 DC Sakura Matsuri and AUSA Cosplay Fashion Show
Cherry blossom season is a time of festivals and parades all over, but no city in the U.S. does Sakura Festival quite like Washington, D.C. The Cherry Blossoms are a huge source of tourism here, and everything in the city turns pink and flowery for a month to celebrate our friendship with Japan.
April 13 marked the Japanese Street Festival, the highlight of the Cherry Blossom Festival, or Sakura Matsuri. The Japan America Society puts it on in the heart of D.C, the largest one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the U.S. Packed with food, music, tradition, and of course, modern Japanese culture, we nerds can’t help but be a part of it by dressing up and acting out!
Local DC convention Anime USA has partnered with the Japanese Street Festival for the past several years to bring the AUSA Cosplay Fashion Show to the J-Pop Stage. The Cosplay Fashion Show is a dual-purpose event: the announcers inform the audience about each character who comes out and struts their stuff, and the cosplayers get prizes and entry to the festival for participating.
This year, the show was emceed and coordinated by Anime USA staffers Tiffany and Cassy of Cupcake Cosplay. As Metro area natives and current representatives for the US in the World Cosplay summit, the team were uniquely suited to the hosting job! Halftime featured an interview with the team hosted by cosplayer Chiara Scuro, who cosplays Kaede, the Anime USA mascot every year.
The day was beautiful and the attitude backstage was great. While we waited to go on, we got to watch traditional dance and Japanese punk rock while we all chatted about our costumes and the festival went on around us. Dancing, glitter, and ridiculous photos happened, as such things are common among cosplayers. The show itself was attended by a great crowd, who screamed and hollered as each character mugged in the bright, hot sun.
Prizes were generously provided by Anime USA and cosplayer favorite wig shop Arda Wigs!
Featured Image Credit: AUSA Fashion Show
