THE Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) is initiating a new search for additional sponsors following the loss of Coromandel Properties, which filed for creditor protection last week.

For five years, the real estate developer was a much-valued presenting sponsor of the festival, which hosts a wide range of cultural and educational special events across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland each spring, most of them free.

To ensure the festival’s programming is not seriously affected, festival executive director Michael Dove is leading a new search for sponsors to support the festival as a whole or its individual signature events, such as The Big Picnic David Lam Park and Sakura Days Japan Fair at VanDusen Botanical Garden.

“Sponsors play a pivotal role in our ability to put on a festival of this size and ensuring almost all our programming is free of charge and accessible to everyone,” says Dove. “We are now doing all we can to find new sponsors to ensure that all of our planned programs and events can go ahead. We believe it’s an excellent opportunity for businesses to get involved with such an impactful community event. We want to thank Coromandel Properties for supporting us for the past five years, and we look forward to working with our current and additional new sponsors as we prepare for our April 1 festival launch.”

Any company looking to support and be engaged with the beautiful Vancouver Cherry Blossom brand are urged to contact Dove directly to learn more about the festival, the wide range of exposure and benefits sponsors enjoy, and how a sponsorship program can be tailored to meet their objectives.

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is a charitable not‐for‐profit organization with the objective to educate and actively engage diverse communities through accessible local arts and culture to celebrate the fragile beauty of the cherry blossom. Events throughout the city bring people together to celebrate nature, creativity, and Vancouver’s cherry tree heritage. Cherry blossom viewing has become a joyful Festival springtime tradition in Vancouver now as people marvel as 54 different varieties blossom across the city. For more information, visit: www.vcbf.ca