Fascinating spring messengers: The new MINI Convertible Sidewalk and the beautiful colours of cherry blossom.

Munich/Bonn. Nature is not familiar with the concept of lockdown. Even this year, the start of the cherry blossom season is once again an absolutely clear sign that spring has come – and more than ever it is the symbol of anticipation for times to come when magic moments can be celebrated together and in the open air. The new MINI Convertible Sidewalk is also a very special spring messenger. The edition model of this open-top four-seater is an open invitation to let down the soft top and capture the first rays of warm sunshine, turn your eyes skywards and admire the colourful splendour of the cherry blossom.

Bonn is the perfect destination for an outing to view this natural marvel. The city’s residents and tourists alike believe that Breite Straße – Broad Street – in the one-time capital of Germany provides a wonderful opportunity to admire the pageant in white and pink. The MINI Convertible Sidewalk provides an impressive contrast in blue to the subtle display of colour in Bonn’s old town. The Deep Laguna metallic paint developed specially for the livery of this edition model is combined with matching bonnet stripes and 17-inch light-alloy Scissor Spoke 2-tone wheels, which are also a model-specific design feature.

The exclusive soft-top roof of the edition model is well worth a closer look. The MINI Yours Softtop Sidewalk features an artistically woven-in arrow graphic. Naturally, the roof had been opened to the elements for the spring tour around Bonn. The electric-powered roof operates almost silently and takes just 18 seconds to open up. The first blossoms are able to fall on the anthracite-coloured seats in the exclusive MINI Yours Leather Lounge Sidewalk version where they create a brightly coloured showpiece together with the contrast stitching in Petrol and Energetic Yellow. The petrol paint effect also embellishes the door bezels and the backlit trim on the passenger side of the new MINI Convertible Sidewalk.

The fascination with the subtle springtime messengers originated in Japan. Cherry blossom has been venerated there for centuries. It represents beauty and transience – since this wondrous show of natural beauty only lasts for a few fleeting weeks between the end of March and the beginning of May. Originally, the Cherry Blossom Festival was reserved for the imperial court but since the 17th century, Hanami – translated as “flower viewing” – has been celebrated by everyone in Japan.

The tradition of cherry blossom festivals has now spread far beyond Asia across the ocean to North America and Europe. In Washington D.C., the friendship between Japan and the USA is commemorated in the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. In the region of Extremadura in the West of Spain, more than two million cherry trees transform the “Valle del Jerte” valley into a sea of pink and white. And in Hamburg, the Cherry Blossom Festival has celebrated the partnership with the twin city of Osaka in Japan for more than 50 years.

In Bonn, a rapturous reception for the blossom is a relatively recent phenomenon. But a post on Facebook “Places to See Before You Die” about the sea of blossoms in Breite Straße and Heerstraße in Bonn created huge hype in 2012 and brought unimaginable fame to these two streets. This year is no exception and pedestrians and amateur photographers continue to delight in the boulevard of cherry trees. And why ever not? The natural show can be happily enjoyed by individuals or in groups of two, while maintaining social distancing or alternatively on a spin with the new MINI Convertible Sidewalk.