With Cherry Blossoms In Bloom, D.C. Issues Reminder: No Drones

By Laura Wagner / NPR

Published March 25, 2016 at 5:54 PM PDT

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

Cherry blossoms line the Tidal Basin in Washington near the Jefferson Memorial during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in 2006.

For those hoping to capture an aerial shot of the famous Tidal Basin surrounded by an army of cherry blossom trees in full bloom, well, too bad.

The 2016 annual National Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing this weekend and thousands of people will arrive in Washington, D.C., to see the sights, enjoy the festival and hopefully get that perfect shot of the famous trees. Lest any visitors get too ambitious with their photography, however, the federal government has issued a stern (and catchy) reminder: D.C. is a no drone zone.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Parks Service even created a video to get the message across, called National Cherry Blossom drone awareness.

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According to the festival's website, the festival "commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, D.C.," and honors "the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan." It also says that over its four weekends (this year's festival runs from March 20 to April 17) the event will draw more than 1.5 million people to the nation's capital.

So come see the trees, bring your cameras, and snap plenty of photos — from the ground.