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Cherry Blossom Festival crowns new queen Marissa Nicole Machida was crowned queen of the 58th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival Saturday night at the Hawai'i Theatre. Machida, a 2002 graduate of Punahou School, holds a bachelor's degree in television production from Loyola Marymount University and a juris doctorate from California Western School of Law. She works as a judicial law clerk. She is the daughter of Layne and Evelyn Machida.    Machida was also named Miss Popularity.     Allison-Jae Mikiala Hyun was named first princess. The other princesses are Kimberly Chie Fujinaka, Kimberlee Marika Young and Cori Kiyoko Hanagami.      Andrea Mie Hiura was recognized as Miss Congeniality.

Cherry Blossom Festival is a big draw in the US AFP/File – Thousands of cherry trees given by Japan as a present nearly a century ago have started blooming in the … Slideshow: Cherry Blossoms WASHINGTON (AFP) – A little early this year, thousands of  cherry trees  given by  Japan  as a present nearly a century ago started blooming in the US capital, ushering in the  Cherry Blossom Festival , the city's top  tourist attraction . "The weather conditions this past weekend were ideal for moving the cherry blossoms  forward," said  National Park Service National Capital Region  Chief  Horticulturist  Robert DeFeo, who is in charge of nearly 4,000 cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. Every year, the park service measures with scientific precision the Blooming Period of the trees that starts when 20 percent of the blossoms open and peaks at 70 percent or more. This year, the range of peak blooming dates forecast for the festival are April 1 to April 4, four days earlier th