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National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington runs March 15-April 16

US National Park Service predicts this year's peak could be earliest on record

CNN  — 

There are pink and white petals in the air in Washington.

The city’s Yoshino cherry trees have reached their second bloom stage, the time when florets are visible. There are four more stages before peak bloom, the National Mall and Memorial Park Service tweeted on March 2.

Peak bloom, which can last from four to 10 days, is reached when 70% of the blossoms are open on the cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin.

If you want to see them attached to trees in their full splendor, it’s time to head to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which kicked off Sunday and runs through April 17.

The Yoshino cherry trees are officially at their peak.

The festival moved up its start date from March 20 to March 15 in response to the updated forecast.

The month-long celebration marks the 1912 gift from Tokyo of 3,000 cherry trees to Washington, and includes an April 1 Blossom Kite Festival and an April 8 parade that runs 10 blocks along Constitution Avenue.