Asian Heritage Month Blog Event:
Cherry Blossom Photo Contest
By Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez
At least once a year, my husband and I, and our two children make a special effort in visiting Kariya Park in Mississauga. As former residents of Mississauga, it always feels like home to return not only to the city, but also to Kariya Park especially for the viewing of its cherry blossom trees.
(c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
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Cherry blossom tree, Kariya Park. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
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It was opened in July 1992 in honour of the city’s twin-sister city relationship with Kariya, Japan, located fifteen kilometres southwest of Nagoya, between Kyoto and Tokyo.
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(c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
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The City of Kariya symbol can be viewed in various areas of the park that includes a wild goose (kari) and a figure eight (ya). The combination of the two symbols produces the city’s name, Kariya.
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We made our visit to the park this past weekend.
Steps to Kariya Park. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
Blossoms on tree branch. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
My family on our annual trip to Kariya Park. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
Pink sakura. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
My daughter looking at the geese on the pond, Kariya Park, May 2012. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
“Mando Matsuri” (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
Me with the kids, Kariya Park, May 2012. (c) Photo Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
Symbol at Kariya Park. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
(c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez. All rights reserved.
Pond at Kariya Park, May 2012. (c) Photo by Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez.
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In honour of Hanami and the beautiful sakura during Asian Heritage Month, I will be hosting a Cherry Blossom Photo Contest at The Bibliotaphe’s Closet!
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The best photo entry will win their choice of one of the following books from The Book Depository (you can click on the photos to be led to Goodreads for details about the book):
Cherry Blossom Contest Rules:
- This giveaway is open to any country that The Book Depository (TBD) will deliver to for free. To check if TBD delivers to your country, check here.
- You must have a valid email and mailing address to qualify. No P.O. Box addresses accepted.
- You must be 15 years old and up to enter.
- You must follow my blog by GFC, Networked Blogs, or Facebook to qualify.
- A maximum of five (5) photo entries will be accepted from one person.
- All photos must be originals with copyright belonging to the entrant and not a photo that was taken from online, the Internet, or the Web.
- The photo composition must include cherry blossoms, or depict an Asian theme, and not be tampered or photo-edited in any way.
- A winner will be chosen based on: best photo quality, aesthetic, creativity, and/or Asian theme.
- To enter, please send your photo(s) to Zara Alexis of The Bibliotaphe’s Closet by email.
- Subject line should read: CHERRY BLOSSOM PHOTO CONTEST
Your entry must include the following information:
- full name
- full mailing address
- how your follow me (GFC, Networked Blogs, or Facebook—or all!)
- The name(s) or user ID(s) you follow me by
- name/title for photo(s)
- total number of photo(s) submitted – MAX. 5
- book of choice from the list provided above if you win
- By submitting a photo(s) to the contest, the entrant agrees to allow The Bibliotaphe’s Closet to post the photo(s) online on its blog. Copyright will remain with the photographer and proper credit will be acknowledged.
- Winner must respond to notification within 48 hours to claim prize and confirm mailing address before order can be placed.
- If winner fails to claim prize, a new winner will be chosen.
- If not enough photo entries are submitted due to lack of interest, nor quality photos entered to deem a photo contest winner, contest will either be postponed or closed at the discretion of The Bibliotaphe’s Closet.
- Contest ends June 30, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST
- For further details, please visit Zara Alexis’ Giveaway Contest Policy.
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Beautiful pictures!! to be honest, I don’t actually know if I’ve ever taken pics of cherry blossoms – but I’ll take a look!
Hi Michele! Well, you have until June 30th to enter, but if you don’t have anything, you can also enter a photo with an Asian theme if you prefer. Up to five photos max. per person. Good luck! And thanks for your interest. Cherry blossoms are my favourite and I’ve been wanting to host a photo contest for a while.
What a great idea, I love pictures of cherry blossoms, next to the real thing of course!
How nice that you have cherry blossoms so close. I never saw any in Alberta!
Are instagram photos okay?
Perogyo! So glad you’ll be entering! Sure, as long as you can send them to me via email and I can post them online. Looking forward to seeing your submission. Good luck! (I LOVE cherry blossoms, which prompted this contest and giveaway!)
Enjoyed looking through your photos, as always! I suppose I might find cherry blossoms at the Arnold Arboretum, but I don’t know if we’ll get there this spring. Fun idea for a contest!
These are beautiful! I actually live beside Kariya Park. It’s beautiful and I’ll be sure to snap some photos the next time I visit.
That’s wonderful news! Looking forward to receiving and seeing your shots! Good luck!
Well this is embarrassing. I work less than a mile from this park, and I’ve seen the sign countless times — just never bothered to actually enter it. I guess I always assumed it was a residential area and off limits. Thanks for the heads up, Zara! Will definitely go exploring…
Not embarrassing at all. It’s wonderful to discover new things. It’s a small park, but peaceful when not too crowded. I enjoy dropping by to take a few pictures, take a small stroll with the kids, or even sit and read on the grass. If you drop by, be sure to take some pictures and enter the Cherry Blossom Photo Contest that’s running until the end of June! Enjoy your visit!
What absolutely beautiful photos!!
Thanks so much Michele. Cherry blossoms are my favourite. Thanks for dropping by.
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