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Current Events
- Aloha Festivals: One of the best examples of cultural hoolaulea
(celebrations) is the Aloha Festivals. Begun
after World War II, "Aloha Week" has grown to encompass close to 300 events in two months that celebrate
the culture of the Hawaiian people and the cultures of the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese and other
ethnic groups that make up Hawaii.
Dressed in traditional regalia, the Aloha Festivals Royal Court
begin the festivities, which include dancing,
entertainment by Hawaii's top stars and every kind of ethnic
food imaginable. Some highlights of the festivals
include the Aloha Festivals Floral Parade, which winds its
way through Waikiki down Kalakaua Avenue
with floral floats, pau riders, mounted units and marching
bands and the Waikiki Hoolaulea, the state's
largest block party held in the heart of Waikiki.
Plan to attend the Sam Choy Poke Contest, where professional
chefs and backyard cooks compete for the
best poke (marinated raw fish) in the world at the Hapuna
Beach Prince Hotel in the Mauna Kea Resort on
the Big Island.
On Molokai, don't miss the Annual Molokai Mule Run, where teams
of mule riders run alongside their
mounts in an attempt to reach the finish line first. When
the mules become as stubborn as they are alleged to
be, the laughter begins.
King Kamehameha Day: King Kamehameha the Great, who united
the Hawaiian Islands in 1795 and
initiated a time of peace in Hawaii that lasted nearly 100
years, is remembered every year with celebrations
throughout the state.
On Oahu, the Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Statue Decoration
Ceremony begins at the
Honolulu Civic Center. The statue of King Kamehameha is draped
in 13-foot-long flower leis with music and
hula performances as part of the festivities. The next day,
the Annual King Kamehameha Celebration
Floral Parade's four-mile route begins in downtown Honolulu
on King Street, ventures through Waikiki on
Kalakaua Avenue and finishes at the Queen Kapiolani Park.
People line the streets hours ahead of the 9:30
a.m. starting time to get a good seat. Traffic is closed for
the parade, which is filled with floral floats,
marching bands, mounted units, pau riders and the King's Court.
After the parade enters the park, the King Kamehameha Folklife
Festival begins with entertainment, food
booths, arts and crafts demonstrations and displays. It begins
around 11 a.m. and lasts until 5 p.m. The
Folklife Festival is held in conjunction with the Matsuri
in Hawaii Pan Pacific Festival.
For more information on any of the King Kamehameha Celebration
events, contact King Kamehameha
Celebration Commission: (808) 586-0333.
Lei Day: If you are unable to be in Honolulu for the decoration
of the King Kamehameha Statue, another
display of Hawaii's incredible art of lei making takes place
every year on May 1. In 1928, the unofficial poet
laureate of Hawaii, Don Blanding, penned a poem about "Lei
Day," and ever since then, May Day is Lei
Day in Hawaii.
Every Island schedules a series of events celebrating the fragrant
floral necklace, which symbolizes much
more than just a garland of flowers. Lei contests and lei
making workshops abound. Check with the Hawaii
Visitors & Convention Bureau for specific locations on
each island: (800) GO-HAWAII or
www.gohawaii.com
The Lei Day event not to miss is the Annual Brothers Cazimero
May Day Concert at the Waikiki Shell
on May 1. A tradition in Hawaii, this concert features the
sweet music of these popular musicians (who have
performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City), excellent hula
dancing and a surprise guest star every year
from the ranks of Hawaii's best entertainers.
Chinese New Year: Everyone, not just Hawaii's Chinese community,
participates in the annual New Year's
festivals, which start in January and continue into March.
In the year 2000, Chinese New Year was on Feb.
5, which ushered in the Year of the Dragon. But the celebrations
begin in January with the annual Narcissus
Festival in Honolulu, featuring the annual Narcissus Queen
Pageant at the Blaisdell Concert Hall and the
Coronation Ball at the Coral Ballroom at the Hilton Hawaiian
Village.
In February, lion dancers, calligraphy, cooking demonstrations,
martial arts exhibitions and lots of
firecrackers will bring in the New Year throughout the state.
For more information about activities, contact
the Chinese Chamber of Commerce at (808) 533-3181 or the Lahaina
Town Action Committee at (808)
667-9175.
Paniolo Festivals: Part of Hawaii's history, the paniolo are
the Hawaiian cowboys who worked the ranches
across the state. Although they are fewer in number today,
Hawaiian cowboys still exist and love to show off
their skills at the various rodeos and similar events. The
best times to catch up with paniolo are July 4th
weekend on Maui and the Big Island and in November on Molokai.
The Fourth of July is ripe for rodeos. On Maui, the Annual
Rodeo and Parade, July 3-4, takes place in
Makawao, where floats and equestrian teams lead the way in
one of the best small-town parades. The
two-day Makawao Rodeo features the state and Island champions
in the sport as well as local ranch
cowboys vying for trophies and prizes. Local food — including
shave ice, chow fun, teriyaki steak and
barbecue — is available throughout the day. Live country-western
entertainment and dancing follow each
day's activities.
In Waimea, "home" of Hawaii's first cowboys and the 151-year-old
Parker Ranch, the Parker Ranch has its
annual rodeo on the July 4th weekend.
For more information, call (808) 885-7655 or see the calendar of events at www.rodeohawaii.com.
On Molokai, the Annual Molokai Ranch Rodeo and Molokai Stew
Cook-off takes place every
November at the Molokai Ranch. Top rodeo professionals across
the state and from the Mainland compete
for cash prizes at the Rodeo Arena in Maunaloa. Favorite contests
include the bareback and saddle bronco
riding and bull riding. Local Hawaiian and country-western
groups provide entertainment, with a traditional
barn dance at the Molokai Ranch Outfitters Center. For information,
contact the Molokai Visitors
Association at (808) 553-3876.
Kona Coffee Festival: Since the first trees were planted in
Kona in 1828, coffee has become part of the
culture and lifestyle of Kona. The Annual Kona Coffee Festival
will feature close to 30 events during the
first two weeks in November, including the hotly contested
Kona Coffee Picking Contest, the traditional
Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Pageant, the prestigious Cupping
Competition and two parades. In
addition, visitors are invited to attend coffee farm tours
and demonstrations about growing, drying and
roasting coffee. For more information, contact Current Events
at (808) 326-7820 or visit the World Wide
Web: www.konacoffeefest.com.
Hula Festivals: When most people think about Hawaii, they picture
a graceful hula dancer, long dark hair
swaying in the breeze, fluttering hands telling a story as
her hips move to sensuous music. Hula festivals in
Hawaii range from serious rituals honoring the goddess of
hula to fierce competitions to small children
exhibiting sophistication in their mastery of the art.
Hawaii's largest hula competition and festival, the Merrie
Monarch Hula Festival, with a free, day-long
hoolaulea on Hilo's Coconut Island, where the mood of music,
dance, food and Hawaiian cultural displays
will set the tone for the week-long fete.
Named after Hawaii's last king, David Kalakaua, also known
as the Merrie Monarch, the festival has become
Hawaii's premier hula competition with dozens of hula halau
(schools) vying for top honors.
Competition is fierce for tickets. You can write for tickets
after Jan. 1. They are usually sold out by the end
of the month. For more information, contact The Merrie Monarch
Festival, c/o Hawaii Naniloa Hotel, 93
Banyan Drive, Hilo, HI 96720; (808) 935-9168. If you don't
obtain tickets, you can catch the three nights
of competition on KITV-Channel 4, which broadcasts the event
live throughout the state.
Merrie Monarch honors the best in the state of the art, and
the Ka Hula Piko in May celebrates the birth of
the dance. According to Hawaiian legend, the goddess Laka
brought the art of hula to Molokai. Begun in
1991, the Molokai Ka Hula Piko includes a week of lectures
about the ancient art and a sacred ritual
celebrating hula's birth. Kumu hula John Kaimikaua, one of
Hawaii's most renowned experts about hula and
Hawaiiana, sets a theme for the celebration each year, then
conducts a series of lectures centered on the
theme. The lectures are conducted during the day at the various
locations on Molokai described in the
legends or chants. In the evening, he gives the same lectures
at the Courtyard at the Kaluakoi Hotel. On
Saturday, in the early morning, hours before dawn, Kaimikaua
and dozens of hula dancers from across the
state and the Mainland conduct a sacred ritual in the darkness
honoring Laka and her gift of hula. For
information, contact the Molokai Visitors Association at (808)
553-3876.
Inspired by the Merrie Monarch, the 26th Annual King Kamehameha
Hula Competition will once again
have close to 500 dancers from hula groups from the Mainland,
Japan and Hawaii compete in traditional and
contemporary hula styles in June at Honolulu's Blaisdell Arena.
If you are unable to see the Merrie Monarch, this is the competition
to attend. There's no problem with
getting tickets (the Blaisdell seats 8,000), and the 77 performances
take place "in the round" on the basketball
court. The performances on both days are a mixture of the
modern and ancient hulas. The judges look at the
dancers and the individual chanters. Tickets range from $8.50
to $20 for each night's performance. For more
information, contact King Kamehameha Celebration Commission:
(808) 586-0333.
For 22 years, the Prince Lot Hula Festival has stood out amongst
hula festivals because it is a
noncompetitive event performed on a natural grassy hula mound.
Between 8,000 to 9,000 people attend the
day-long event, with 8:30 a.m. opening ceremonies at the Moanalua
Gardens on Oahu.
Prince Lot, who served as Kamehameha V, is credited with reviving
the art of hula in the ahupuaa of
Moanalua during the 19th century. The festival in his honor
features ancient and modern hula techniques
performed by 12 halua from every island in Hawaii and the
winner of the Kalihi-Palama Secondary Schools'
Kahiko Competition.
In addition to the hula performances, the event includes demonstrations
of Hawaiian arts and crafts. A
relaxed affair, admission is free and the public is encouraged
to bring beach mats and coolers to enjoy the
cultural festival under the spreading monkey pod trees. For
more information, call (808) 839-5334.
If you want to see the future winners of the Merrie Monarch
Festivals, attend the Queen Liliuokalani
Keiki Hula Competition. Since 1976, this children's hula competition
has been proving that children (ages
6-12) can be surprisingly adept at this art and perform as
well as adults.
The events begin with the solo competition for Miss Keiki Hula
and Master Keiki Hula. Several winners
have gone on to win the Miss Aloha division of the Merrie
Monarch. On Friday, the kahiko (ancient) division
competition among the two dozen halau gets underway. All the
halau have been given a chant that they
have to interpret. And on Saturday, the final competition
for auana (modern) hula begins. Ticket prices for
each event are $7 to $8. For more information, call (808)
521-6905.
MUSIC FESTIVALS
Hawaii possesses its own sweet blend of music, not replicated
anywhere else, and its own unique
instruments. Below are some of Hawaii's best music festivals
sprinkled throughout the Islands.
Every Father's Day weekend, people from across the state travel
to the upcountry "saddle" between Hilo and
Waikoloa on the Big Island for two days of Hawaii's best examples
of island music during the Waikii
Cultural Festival. This year's 8th annual event (June 19-20
at the Waikii Polo Field) features top musicians
(Hapa, Kapena, Hoopii Brothers, Genoa Keawe, Makaha Sons,
Robi Kahakalau and others) and adds — for
the first time — cultural exhibits and learning areas, such
as lauhala weaving, lei making, hula and chants,
Hawaiian medicine, Hawaiian tattooing and pahu drumming. For
information, call (808) 254-4665 or send
e-mail to mhc@pici.com.
For the past 29 years, the finest ukulele players in the world
meet for the Ukulele Festival, joined by
Hawaii's top entertainers and an unbelievable ukulele "orchestra"
composed of more than 300 children. The
free festival lasts two and a half hours at the Kapiolani
Park Bandstand. Thousands of people pour into
the park on the last Saturday in July (July 25, 1999) to listen
to this unique concert, put on by master ukulele
artist and teacher Roy Sakuma. For information, call (808)
732-3739 or check the World Wide Web at
www.ukulele-roysakuma.com.
If you want to experience Hawaii's true "folk music," plan
your vacation around the free five-hour Hawaiian
Slack Key Guitar Festivals. Each Island features the top local
slack key guitar players, Hawaii's best slack
key artists, along with food vendors, crafts and sales of
slack key CDs. The schedule includes dates on the
Big Island, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai. For information,
call (808) 239-4336 or send e-mail to
kahokuproductions@yahoo.com.
Don't-Miss EVENTS
Hawaii refuses to be pigeonholed. Our culture isn't just hula
or Hawaiian music nor is it just our history and
the history of the people who have made this their home. Hawaii
is also our environment, the ocean, the way
we have fun and the way we express ourselves. Below are some
great events that you really shouldn't miss.
Since 1996, the Kapalua Nature Society has presented the Earth
Maui Nature Summit, a five-day,
action-packed event at the Kapalua Resort that helps us look
at Mother Maui with new eyes and encourages
us to think twice about how we use our Islands' natural resources.
It has so many fun-filled activities that
you have to remind yourself this is educational. And bring
the kids! The special hands-on activities for the
keiki are exceptional.
Activities during the event range from plunges beneath the
waves to sojourns into native rain forests, from a
hula halau taking you back in time to a Hawaiian hukilau of
native Hawaiian fish gathering. Twelve lucky
people will be selected from a random drawing to go on the
"once-in-a-lifetime" hike into the Puu Kukui
Preserve on the highest peak of the West Maui Mountain, home
to dozens of plant and animal species found
nowhere else on Earth. In between, there are seminars, workshops,
films, photographic exhibits, an
Eco-Maui Trade Show and a zillion other activities. For information,
call (800) KAPALUA (527-2582) or
(808) 669-0244.
Since 1993, the four-day Celebration of the Arts on Maui has
been using art to bring people together to
communicate and to promote a better understanding of the Hawaiian
culture. Or as Clifford Naeole, the
chairman of the festival puts it: "Art is a bridge to hospitality."
You'll find the bridge on Easter weekend at
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua.
This is not a craft show, but four days of hands-on demonstrations
by close to 40 artists. Open to the public
at no fee, between 4,000 and 6,000 people show up to participate
in workshops about basketry, wood
turning, petroglyph art, feather art, kapa making and paper
making, among other topics. In addition, cultural
discussions stimulated by films, panels, hula and chants are
held through the resort. Games for children
include ulumaika (lawn bowling), oo ihe (spear throwing),
hakoko (wrestling) and others.
A fee will be charged for the annual Hawaii luau featuring
traditional food and the celebration concert, which
features Hawaiian entertainment. For more information, call
(808) 669-6200.
Another bridge amongst the cultures is the Annual Hawaii International
Film Festival, which shows close
to 100 films from 20 countries.
Begun in 1981, the festival is dedicated to advancing understanding
and cultural exchange among the peoples
of Asia, the Pacific and North America through the medium
of film. It traditionally kicks off with an opening
ceremony and reception at the Hawaii Theatre. Admission to
the festival is free. For a complete schedule,
contact The Hawaii International Film Festival, 1001 Bishop
St., Suite 745, Pacific Tower, Honolulu,
HI 96813; (800) 752-8193, (808) 528-3456, www.hiff.org.
Since 1958, August in Kona means Hawaiian International Billfish
Tournament. Hundreds of anglers
from around the globe descend on the small village of Kailua-Kona
in search of the elusive giant marlin. The
week-long events include a billfish parade, five days of fishing
(watching the 75 high-tech sport fishing boats
all roaring off at the 8 a.m. starting gun is something to
see), five days of weigh-ins at the Kailua Pier
(starting at 4 p.m.) and parties every night. The tournament
dates are set in accordance with the new moon
in August. For more information, call (808) 329-6155.
You have to see the Ironman Triathlon World Championship to
believe it. For 21 years, 1,500 of the
world's best endurance athletes flock to Kailua-Kona to swim
2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles in the
sweltering heat and blistering winds, and cross the finish
line in 17 hours or less. Why do they do it? The top
finishers, who complete the course in eight hours or so, are
looking at $250,000 in prize money. The rest of
the pack are just testing themselves to see exactly how "tough"
they really are. Watching the athletes cross
the finish line is something you will never forget. The 1999
race will take place Oct. 23, and the 2000 race is
scheduled for Oct. 14. Race dates are set closest to the full
moon to give the Tail-end Charlies a chance to
see the course after dark. For information, contact (808)
329-0063.
No one is quite sure how it started, but Lahaina always has
been a party town, always looking for an
opportunity to celebrate. Halloween in Lahaina offers such
an opportunity on a grand scale. Close to
30,000 people descend on Front Street in full costume. Throughout
the night, you'll find live entertainment,
parties, costume contests and food booths. Be there or be
square. For information, call (808) 667-9175
For a complete schedule, contact the Aloha Festivals office at (800) 852-7690
or www.alohafestivals.com
