Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 7, 1 July 2016 — MOʻOLELO O MOANALUA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MOʻOLELO O MOANALUA

Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival

By Lynn Cook t's a two-day event like no other in Hawai'i. The 39th Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival at Moanalua Gardens is the oldest and largest non-competitive hula festival in the islands. Relaxing on the lawn in the shade of giant monkeypod trees watching graceful hula is a bit like stepping into a French Impressionist painting. Prince Lot Kapuāiwa reigned as King Kamehameha V from 1863 to 1872. In spite of the prohibitions against hula in the mid-19th century, Prince Lot kept the hula culture alive, offering hula and mele at his pa'ina. What the Saturday and Sunday, July 16 and 17th, free Prince Lot

Hula Festival event delivers - in addition to great hula presentations - is awards and musical performances, good food, booths filled with fine artisans and crafters and ample parking. Cultural activities will be provided by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, so stop by for a ku'i ai demonstration, a game of ulu maika or to learn about OHA's new initiatives. This annual festival is a ehanee to step back in time to enjoy hula as the royals did. Many hālau have danced at the festival many times. Kumu hula Vicky Holt īakamine and Jeffrey Kanekaiwilani Takamine's dancers will perform as the only hālau that has danced for 39 consecutive years. Also returning is Takamine's hula sister, Māpuana de Silva and her Hālau Mōhala 'Ilima. Another festival regular, Kumu Hula Miehael Pili Pang will weleome his first-time entrant and haumana, Lelehua Maunahina Bray of Hālau Hula Maunalei

from Hawai'i Island. Pang's Hālau Hula Ka No'eau will also be performing. Making her first appearance at the festival is Kumu Niuli'i Heine, daughter of the late Leina'ala Kalama Heine with Nā Pualei O Likolehua. The festival opens with the Royal Order of Kamehameha receiving honors and a special citation on their 150th anniversary. They will be ioined by other royal soci-

eties, escorting in the Malia Kau Award recipients to receive their awards from the Moanalua Gardens Foundation. The first is Coline Aiu, daughter of Maiki Aiu Lake who is often called "the Mother of the Hawaiian Renaissance." The second award will be presented to Kimo Kealuana of Lei Hulu School of Hula. Immersed in culture from an early age, he comes from a family with cultural wealth, populated with composers and musicians. A hula, Hawaiian language and music teacher at Honolulu Com-

munity College, he sang for Aunty Maiki's Hālau and continues to sing for Miss Coline's hālau. On Saturday, the awards will be followed by music from the Kamehameha Alumni Glee Club. Their closing song will be the mele of Moanalua composed by Glee Club Director Aaron Mahi. At 10 a.m. on Sunday Raiatea Helm, multi-Hoku-award winning singer from Moloka'i, will make her first appearance at the festival — appropriate because her family tree reaches back to Prince Lot.

The $3 park entrance fee is waived for the weekend. Beach towels and mats are suggested for the great lawn. Low-back chairs are allowed at the back of the lawn. Parking is available at Moanalua Middle and Elementary schools, on Moanalua Park Road and the First Hawaiian Bank Mapunapuna parking lot with a free shuttle. Bus directions

and a schedule for hālau presentations ean be found on the web site, www.moanaluagardensfoundation. org. The festival is sponsored by The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts, Matson Navigation, Queen's Medieal Center, Royal Hawaiian Center, Kamehameha Publishing, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and MiāWeek. ■ Lynn Cook i.s a loeal freelance journalist sharing the arts and culture ofHawai'i with a glohal auāienee.

NĀHANANA EVENTS

Hālau Hula Ka No'eau, led by Kumu Hula Miehael Pili Pang, will perform at the Prince Lol Hula Festival again this year, at 1 1 :40 a.m. on Saturday, July 16. - Photo: Courtesy Moanalua Gardens Foundation