National Cathedral's Annual Flower Mart Starts Friday

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Washington National Cathedral will host its 76th annual Flower Mart from Friday, May 1 to Saturday, May 2.

Sponsored by the Cathedral’s All Hallows Guild, this year’s festival celebrates Asia. Over 23 Asian countries plus Taiwan and Hong Kong will present indigenous flower arrangements, ethnic food, travel displays and traditional music and dance performances.

The outdoor festival has been held on the Cathedral grounds since 1939. The festival features locally grown plant sales, international floral displays in the Cathedral nave, more than 80 boutique booths, food vendors, music and entertainment, floral demonstrations and the 333-foot Cathedral Tower Climb from the crypt level up to the central tower. The Flower Mart also features activities for children, including a rock wall, a moon bounce and rides on a hand painted antique wooden carousel.

This will be the first year Flower Mart will feature a Grotesque Walk on the Cathedral’s upper gutter walkway. This is an opportunity to see many of the intricately carved grotesques, which, along with gargoyles, help manage rainfall over the Cathedral’s stones.

The event is free and open to the public. Proceeds from the Flower Mart support the Cathedral’s gardens, grounds and woodlands.

• WHAT: Washington National Cathedral 76th Annual Flower Mart
• WHEN: Friday, May 1, 2015 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.;Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• WHERE: Washington National Cathedral, 3101 Wisconsin Avenue NW