The municipal public order service is prepared and will close the roads if necessary for safety reasons in the event of very large numbers of visitors. The city asks all road users to show consideration for each other. It is generally advisable not to drive to the Old Town for the cherry blossom festival, but to travel there on foot, by bike or by bus and train.
From the weekend of April 6/7, 2024, Heerstraße and Breite Straße will be closed to through traffic on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the duration of the cherry blossom festival. The closure applies to the entire Breite Straße as well as the section of Heerstraße between Kölnstraße and Vorgebirgsstraße. Paulstrasse, Peterstrasse, Wolfstrasse and Dorotheenstrasse are also closed to through traffic, as they can only be reached via Heerstrasse and Breite Strasse. Residents and delivery vehicles are exempt from this regulation. During the cherry blossom season, coaches are generally prohibited from passing through.
Neighborhood parking on April 13/14, April 20/21 and April 27/28
During the cherry blossom season in 2024, the city will also be testing a neighborhood parking offer for the first time in combination with a parking ban on weekends in Heerstraße and Breite Straße. Residents have already received an information letter. Parking spaces have been reserved for them on three weekends in the Stadthausgarage and the Beethovenparkhaus. So that residents can prepare for the campaign, the announced weekends will remain the same despite the early cherry blossom: April 13/14, April 20/21 and April 27/28. When the blossom period is over, the parking bans in Heerstrasse and Breite Strasse will be lifted. Residents will still be able to use the neighborhood parking spaces on all three weekends.
The cherry blossom festival in Bonn's old town has been a real tourist magnet for years. The city will once again be providing toilet cubicles for visitors before Easter - in the schoolyard of the Marienschule in Heerstraße and at the Stadthaus on the corner of Maxstraße and Breite Straße (Elisabeth-Selbert-Platz). They are also barrier-free and are cleaned regularly. Bonnorange will also clean the streets more intensively during the cherry blossom season and will set up additional litter bins in the old town, which will be emptied regularly.
Cherry blossom starts particularly early this year
The cherry blossom is unusually early this year due to the mild winter months. It usually takes until around mid-April for the 60 Japanese carnation cherries in Heerstraße and Breite Straße to be in full bloom, heralding the grand cherry blossom finale in Bonn's old town. This ornamental cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan') is famous for its particularly lush, bright pink flowers. The duration of flowering also depends on the whims of the April weather: It lasts ten to a maximum of fourteen days - the warmer it is, the quicker it comes to an end.
Information for residents and visitors as well as interesting facts about the Bonn cherry blossom can be found at www.bonn.de/kirschbluete (opens in a new tab).
Translated with deepl.com (free version)