TORONTO — In an effort to encourage Torontonians to stay home and help stop the spread of Covid-19, the city of Toronto is letting residents enjoy High Park’s cherry blossom bloom virtually with help from Rogers.
The city has decided to close High Park as of April 30 to discourage people from gathering in person to view the blossoming Sakura (cherry blossom) trees. Every year at this time, tens of thousands of people visit High Park to enjoy the cherry blossoms, which typically bloom from late April into early May and last between four to 10 days, depending on the weather.
With free Internet services enabled by fixed wireless access, donated by Rogers, Canadians across the country can now access a 24-hour BloomCam livestream at toronto.ca/cherryblossoms.
In addition to a continuous livestream of the cherry tree grove in High Park, the city will also host multiple live events and videos featuring virtual walk-throughs of the blossoms with experts from the High Park Nature Centre. The timing of live events is weather-dependent and will be announced in the city’s website and corporate social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“The City would like to thank its virtual experience partners, the Toronto Public Library Bookmobile and Rogers, for powering the Internet connectivity needed to bring this year’s High Park cherry blossom bloom into viewers’ homes,” reads the city of Toronto’s news release.
