World Bonsai Day

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PBA Festival & World Bonsai Day Celebration
May
9
to May 11
Special Event, World Bonsai Day, Education

PBA Festival & World Bonsai Day Celebration

National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, Arboretum Visitor Center

The 2025 Potomac Bonsai Festival returns to the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum on May 9-11, 2025. The Potomac Bonsai Association and it’s affiliated clubs are excited to celebrate bonsai with our annual festival in conjunction with World Bonsai Day (May 10, 2025) and a special celebration of the Quadricentennial of the Yamaki Pine.

Presented in partnership with the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, the National Bonsai Foundation, U.S. National Arboretum, and the World Bonsai Friendship Federation, the festival includes an exhibition of bonsai by PBA members, formal bonsai displays, bonsai vendors, beginner workshops, a bonsai learning series, children’s activities, Museum tours, and demonstrations and workshops led by our guest artists. More about the guest artists and schedule of events at the button below!

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Film Screening of "Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace"
May
13
4:30 PM16:30
Special Event, World Bonsai Day

Film Screening of "Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace"

Attend a special after Museum hours event in celebration of World Bonsai Day! Enjoy tours, music, sake tastings, bento-boxes and a film screening of BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. Registration required.

A film by Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan
35 min | 2020 | Washington, DC Premier

If more people did bonsai, there would be more peace in the world.
-Saburo Kato (1915–2008), bonsai master

In 1975, only thirty years after the United States and Japan had been at war, Japan gave 53 priceless bonsai to the United States in celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial. Some bonsai were several hundred years old. One had remarkably survived the bombing of Hiroshima. Bicentennial Bonsai: Emissaries of Peace chronicles this historic gift, includes rare interviews and archival footage, and reveals how we can rediscover our shared humanity and establish a path toward healing and world peace. Paul Awad and Kathryn O’Sullivan are a husband-and-wife filmmaking team based in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

EVENING’S SCHEDULE
4:30 – gates to the Bonsai Museum open for after-hours tours*
5:00 – koto music, free sake tastings, and pre-ordered bento boxes in the museum
6:00 – movie screening in the auditorium followed by Q&A with filmmakers

Registration
General Admission: $12.50
NBF, FONA, JASWDC members**: $10
Bento Box (vegan or chicken) pre-order: $20

**Type your discount code into the “Coupon Code” box on the last page of registration and hit “Apply” to see the discount when you check out. NBF, FONA, and JASWDC will be sending discount code information to their members. Contact your organization if you have any questions.

REGISTRATION CLOSES MAY 10

*Due to another event happening at the Arboretum this evening, we recommend you arrive early to find parking.

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Bonsai Basics: Chrysanthemum Bonsai
May
13
to Nov 4
Special Event, Education, World Bonsai Day

Bonsai Basics: Chrysanthemum Bonsai

Shape your own flowering bonsai in a single growing season.

The horticultural perfection of a bonsai does not have to take decades to accomplish. The chrysanthemum can be artfully shaped into a bonsai within one growing season. Register for a series of five chrysanthemum bonsai classes, beginning on World Bonsai Day, Saturday, May 13th, 2023, and produce a styled, blooming chrysanthemum bonsai by November.

This Bonsai Basics is a course for beginners and intermediates, consisting of five classes beginning May 13 and ending November 4. A maximum of 40 students will meet all together for the first and last class for lectures and demonstrations. In between, students attend three, two-hour classes in small groups of 10 for more intensive teaching by curatorial staff of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

Participants will learn the basics of watering, wiring, pinching, pruning, potting, and displaying chrysanthemum bonsai. While these principles also apply to bonsai that are traditional woody tree species, using the chrysanthemum allows students to see the results of their pruning, wiring, and other work, within only a few months instead of after years of training. When cared for correctly, these “gnome” species of chrysanthemums, bred for their small flower and leaf size, will bloom heavily in the fall, providing students with an opportunity to present their personally designed,flowering bonsai in an all-group display. This course is offered in partnership with Potomac Bonsai Association and Old Dominion Chrysanthemum Society.

Program Prerequisite Requirements:
Participants must be 12 years of age or older and have access to an outdoor growing area with a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun per day.

Course Fee: $150 for all 5 classes

For more details on course materials, schedule and how to register, click here.

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World Bonsai Day
May
13
10:00 AM10:00
World Bonsai Day, Special Event

World Bonsai Day

National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum is pleased to participate in the 13th Annual World Bonsai Day, created by the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF). This event honors the memory of Mr. Saburo Kato, a bonsai master and founder of WBFF, who believed that bonsai has the power to unite people by acting as a bridge to international friendship and peace.

The day’s activities will include something for everyone and will happen both in-person at the Museum and online at bonsai-nbf.org/wbd-2023.

IN-PERSON MUSEUM EVENTS

DOCENT-LED TOUR | 10 am - 4 pm

Join a free, docent-led tour of the Museum throughout the day. No registration required. Free to the public.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES | 10 am - 12 pm & 1 pm - 3 pm

There will be a children's activity table located in the Bonsai Museum’s Exhibit Gallery. It is a fun way for children to engage in and learn about Japanese culture and botany. Children and interested adults will have the opportunity to color Japanese themed coloring pages such as koi, pagodas, fans, and ladies in kimonos; stamp leaves onto drawings of bonsai; and try their hands at a variety of origami animals and shapes, such as frogs, cranes, flowers, stars, and boxes. No registration required. Come and go as you’d like within the scheduled times. Free to the public.

CHRYSANTHEMUM BONSAI WORKSHOP | 1 pm - 4 pm

A fee-based series of workshops on chrysanthemum bonsai begins on this day. Learn more here about that series.

FILM SCREENING: BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE | 4:30 pm - 8 pm
Attend a special after Museum hours event! Enjoy tours, music, sake tastings, bento-boxes and a film screening of BICENTENNIAL BONSAI: EMISSARIES OF PEACE followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. Registration required. More info here.

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PBA Juried Bonsai Exhibit
May
5
to May 14
Exhibit, Special Event, World Bonsai Day

PBA Juried Bonsai Exhibit

Exhibits Gallery, National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

This exhibit showcases the best bonsai from members of the Potomac Bonsai Association in formal displays. It will be on view for the public during the Potomac Bonsai Festival and will continue through the following weekend and celebration of World Bonsai Day. 

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Beginner Bonsai Classes
May
7
to May 8
Education, Special Event, World Bonsai Day

Beginner Bonsai Classes

This event is run by our friends at Potomac Bonsai Association for their Spring Festival.

Come to the Potomac Bonsai Association’s beginner bonsai learning tent outside the Museum to receive one-on-one instruction from experienced club members. Students will learn how to prune, wire, and repot a bonsai they can take home after class.3-hour class. $50 fee (cash or card) per session; all materials provided. No advanced registration required!

Location: Outside the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

This event is part of the Potomac Bonsai Association’s annual spring festival, which takes place from May 6th - 8th. Find a full festival schedule here.

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World Bonsai Day
May
9
12:01 AM00:01
World Bonsai Day

World Bonsai Day

Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy of ORIGAMI CLASS (1).png

Every year, we celebrate World Bonsai Day, a global celebration of the art of bonsai. This year is no exception. Please visit our homepage on May 9 to explore the WORLD BONSAI DAY HOMEPAGE TAKEOVER - a special presentation of videos, blogs, interviews and more that we’ll be curating for you! Plus, join the conversation on social media by following #WorldBonsaiDay. Start using the hashtag now and we may highlight it on our homepage. Snap photos of your collection at home, photos from when you visited the museum, other collections, etc. We can’t wait to celebrate bonsai with the world!

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