Spring's best blossom festivals

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbg.org/discover/cherries/">Cherry Blossom Festival</a> Brooklyn, NY It's not the most famous of the East Coast's cherry blossom festivals – and, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbg.org/">Brooklyn Botanic Garden</a>, which hosts this annual Japanese-themed do, isn't even New York's most famous botanic garden. But size and fame aren't everything – just ask the scores of delighted New Yorkers who show up to this lively party year after year. (BBG/Mike Ratliff)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.bbg.org/discover/cherries/">Cherry Blossom Festival</a> Brooklyn, NY The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual cherry blossom festival celebrates not only the pink blossoms, but also the most fascinating aspects of Japanese culture, from ancient martial arts and bonsai, all the way up to cosplay and manga (BBG/Mike Ratliff)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncazaleafestival.org/">North Carolina Azalea Festival</a> Wilmington, NC One of the East's most appealing coastal cities brags one of its biggest spring festivals, honoring one of the region's most beautiful species of flora. The Azalea Festival is more like a giant county fair, with everything from a circus to competitions to a gigantic parade, which alone draws more than half a million observers. (NC Azalea Festival)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.mackinacislandlilacfestival.org/">Mackinac Island Lilac Festival</a> Mackinac Island, MI From a 10K race to a much-anticipated dog parade (this year's theme is the War of 1812, just in case you're thinking to enter your pooch) to the crowning of the year's Lilac Queen, there's plenty of ways to celebrate the purple majesty of the lilac. (Mackinac Island Lilac Festival )

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.franconianotch.org/things-to-do/special-events/lupine-festival.aspx">Fields of Lupine Festival Franconia</a>, NH The White Mountains turn magnificently purple in late spring, and the acres of these unique flowers that crowd into gorgeous Franconia Notch bring the sort of eager crowds that are more typically associated – around here, anyway – with leaf-peeping season. (Franconia Notch Chamber of Commerce/Robert J. Kozlow)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.blossomfestival.org/">Magnolia Blossom Festival</a> Magnolia, AR How do you get a guy to go to a blossom festival? You run your event alongside something else more guy-friendly. Such as, for instance, the World Championship Steak Cook-Off, that just so happens to coincide with the annual magnolia festival in the eponymously-named town, tucked away inside the pine forests of southern Arkansas. Here we see last year's Steak Cook-Off winners. (Magnolia County Chamber of Commerce)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.nantucketchamber.org/enjoy/daffodil_festival_weekend.aspx">Daffodil Festival Weekend Nantucket Island</a>, MA It's not like Nantucket has to throw a festival to get anyone's attention – this is, after all, one of the most beautiful spots on the New England coast. But how do you not celebrate when you've got more than three million blooms – of all varieties – turning your island bright yellow each spring? (Nantucket Chamber of Commerce)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.tulipfestival.ca/">Canadian Tulip Festival</a>, Ottawa Back in 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands gifted Canada's capital with 100,000 of her country's most famous product – tulip bulbs. For sixty years now, Ottawa has chosen to commemorate the gift with this giant, city-wide event that features a ton of blooming tulips along the city's iconic Rideau Canal. (The Canadian Tulip Festival/Frank Scheme)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.tulipfestival.org/">Skagit Tulip Festival Skagit</a>, WA This giant open house celebrating the Skagit Valley's most colorful crop draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to this agricultural region located sixty miles north of Seattle. Wandering through acres of brightly colored blooms on the valley's various farms is a highlight; events such as the Tulip Run on April 7 – easy to do and open to all – add to the fun. (Skagit Valley Tulip Festival/Scott Lechner)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.vagardenweek.org/">Historic Garden Week</a>, Virginia From Alexandria to Ashland, Roanoke to the Rappahannock, the Old Dominion throws open the garden gate each spring in what's billed as "America's Largest Open House." It certainly is large, featuring hundreds of gardens, many of them of no small historic significance, many more privately owned and closed to the public for the remainder of the year. (Historic Garden Week in Virginia/Catriona Erler)