The hazards of cherry blossom crowds prompt warnings from police in Richmond, B.C.

RICHMOND – Joanna Yue, dressed in a billowing pink, layer-cake dress, struggled to capture a sense of movement among the clouds of cherry blossoms that have transformed Larry Berg Flight Path Park on the main road to Vancouver International Airport.

Posing for selfies in front of her phone mounted on a tripod, Yue, from Calgary, struck various poses, flouncing in her sparkly dress. But she knew to keep her hands off the blossoms.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but as I was swinging, I’m the one moving, not the tree,” said Yue, a former Vancouver resident who was in town to visit family.

The park, directly in line with the airport’s south runway, is a favourite with plane spotters, but in recent days it has been taken over by crowds of cherry blossom fanciers.

RCMP in Richmond, B.C., said the crowds have been creating traffic hazards because of illegal parking — although Yue had arrived early enough on Tuesday to find a proper space in the parking lot.

Police said in a statement that they conducted a targeted enforcement operation over the weekend, handing out 32 tickets, issuing “numerous” verbal warnings and having two unoccupied vehicles towed from the site.

At one point, 50 vehicles were illegally parked on Russ Baker Way, next to the park, “contributing to traffic flow and safety concerns,” police said.

The City of Richmond has meanwhile posted a “cherry blossom safety” guide on its website, warning of “significant traffic congestion, pedestrian safety concerns and parking challenges” in blossom hot spots.

The guide says growing crowd volumes in recent years have caused a number of issues, including “traffic backups, jaywalking, illegal parking and limited emergency vehicle access.”

Linda Poole, founder and creative director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival that runs until April 17, said it has established etiquette rules for flower viewing, including no shaking of trees or breaking branches.

She said she noticed that people had become more respectful at an event in David Lam Park in Vancouver, which drew thousands of people over the weekend.

“Do you know this year, I only had to remind one father who was shaking the branch a bit so that the petals would fall on his baby,” Poole says. “It’s like people have learned, finally, to be respectful.”

Not far away from Yu at the Larry Berg Flight Path Park, Ariella Yan was dressed in a traditional Chinese dress and carrying a fan, cosplaying as a character from a video game while a friend took photos. It was her second trip to the park in recent days.

“I do shoots like this for fun, just to be creative,” said Yan. “I love the fantasy stuff.”

She said she visits the park every year during blossom season and is very respectful of flower-viewing rules.

“Even if we use flowers, we always pick the ones from the ground, which have already dropped,” said Yan.

Yue agreed that people need to be gentle with the trees.

“And you know we don’t need to do too much with the tree. They say nature is beautiful, and the more natural it is, the more beautiful it is,” said Yue, adding that the tree “just sits there, and it’s pretty, and it’s you who moves.”

Fernanda Gonzalez was busy posing with the blossoms for her friend Cristiano Silva.

“My friend is a top model from Mexico,” Silva said as a joking introduction to Gonzalez.

“I used to live in Calgary, and there is no kind of this tree, so it should be planted everywhere,” he added.

Japanese cherry trees were first introduced to Vancouver in the 1930s as a gift from Japan, to honour Japanese Canadians who fought in the First World War.

Poole said Vancouver is currently enjoying the blossoms of the akebono variety, which will be followed in April by the showy double kanzan blossoms, which will only last about two weeks.

“I also want to tell people not to take them for granted,” Poole said of the city’s cherry blossom trees. “We have to take care of them.”

Yue said a lot of her friends want to visit Japan in spring to enjoy its famous cherry blossoms.

“But I feel like I don’t need to go to Japan because I’m right here. It’s all here,” said Yue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.