Photos: Sakura Matsuri Closes With Raucous Cosplay Fashion Show
May 1, 2017, 1:50 p.m.
A huge crowd cheer dozens of cosplays amid the cherry blossom trees.
In what has become an annual springtime tradition, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's weekend-long Sakura Matsuri celebration ended Sunday evening with the rowdy Cosplay Fashion Show, as some two dozen amateur models strutted their stuff up and down the runway on the main stage, much to the delight of the capacity crowd.
Not that you couldn't have seen plenty of spectacular cosplayers all weekend; even in a year such as this one, when the cherry blossoms are abundant and gorgeous, it's the meticulously-costumed young people roaming the grounds that often steal the show. So closing the festivities with a formal fashion show, an acknowledgement to how important the cosplaying community has become to the institution's most popular attraction, seems fitting.
The crowd at the 2017 Sakura Matsuri (Scott Lynch / Gothamist)
Becka Noel and Dhareza Cosplayza emceed the event, emphasizing in their opening remarks that although the fashion show participants clearly put a ton of effort into their handmade costumes, "There is no wrong way to do cosplay." Models cat-walked to vigorous drumming from the great Taiko Masala, who had just completed a delirious set right before the show.
Click through the images to see all the Fashion Show participants, as well as a few more shots of cherry blossom selfies and other cosplayers having a blast beneath the blooms.
