Our Travel Traditions series this week brings us to a tradition that’s not always easy to plan for, Live Entertainment. In addition to attending a luau or two each trip, we still like to find something that’s happening during our trip such as a festival, a concert, things like that. Sure, there are running shows like Warren & Annabelles, ‘Ulalena, and a host of others. While we haven’t seem many of these yet, we’re sure they’re very entertaining.
What we like to look for, though, is something more local, having that sense of community, and especially if it’s being held to benefit local organizations. Here are a few that we’ve been fortunate to attend over the past years.
The Travel Traditions Series here at the blog features our habits and rituals that we have for various aspects of our frequent trips to the island of Maui. Getting to know the island so well after all these years, having a few traditions adds a little continuity to our visits, while still giving us so much flexibility to enjoy many new things each trip.
2007 – Taste of Lahaina
Here in Chicago, we have an annual event called the Taste of Chicago, which has been going on for close to 30 years now. Well, in turns out that Maui has it’s own version, which is held in Lahaina. We were excited to learn that it was going to be held during the weekend of our Sept. ’07 trip, although we had seen the different dates reported by different sources.
The Taste of Lahaina is put together by the Lahaina Town Action Committee, who are the same folks that bring to you the Lahaina Halloween celebration, the Lighting of the Banyan Tree, and many other events. It’s a two night affair, usually Saturday and Sunday, and features booths from local restaurants, games for the keiki, and live music from local favorites. It’s open to both locals and visitors, and we had a blast.
We only made it out for the first night, but still heard a lot of great music. Artists performing on the night we were there included Brother Noland, Beach 5, and Sean and Robi. The event was MC’d by personalities from KPOA, and at one point during the show, she asked for applause from people that came from the different islands, one island at a time. We thought that was neat, seeing (actually, hearing) that folks from across the islands had come to attend the event.
2008 – HAPA at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center
The following year, we were ecstatic to learn that one of our favorite Hawaiian artists, HAPA, was going to be playing at the Castle Theatre at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center during our trip in April. It was one of our all-time highlights on Maui, and the show was absolutely incredible.
It was our first time visiting the MACC, and the event featured a nice outdoor setup, again MC’d by KPOA, prior to the concert. There was food and drinks available, as well as a few merchants with arts and crafts they were selling. We also had time to walk through one of the art exhibits at the MACC before the show, which featured different art projects that students from different grade schools in the area had put together. Every group from kindergarten through high school was featured, and many of the pieces consisted of everyday household items, such as soda cans, cardboard boxes, pipecleaners, and other such items. It looked like the students had a lot of fun putting those together.
As for the Castle Theatre itself, it was a very small, quaint and intimate setting for such a magical concert. From talking to people in the courtyard before the show and during the intermission, we found that many of the patrons were local residents who frequent these shows regularly. It was a shame that more visitors to the islands hadn’t known about this show, since they really missed out.
2009 – Whale Day Celebration
As mentioned last week, part of this year’s plans will be spending the day at Kalama Park in Kihei at the annual Whale Day Celebration. The three week festival, as always, is hosted by the Pacific Whale Foundation. In addition to the Whale Regatta Race, there will also be a parade in the morning and live music in the afternoon and into the evening.
This will be our first year attending the event, but we’ve heard from others that it is a lot of fun. The entire festival benefits the work of the Pacific Whale Foundation, which is centered on Maui and has a number of programs for research, education, and conservation on the islands and throughout the world. A very good cause in our eyes.
Share Your Experiences
Have you been to any of these events in previous years, or have similar ones that you’d like to share? We’re hoping, at some point, to join the Lahaina Halloween festivities as well as see the lighting of the Banyan Tree, but we know there are so many other great events and festivals on Maui all year round.
Tell us about your favorites.
The Travel Traditions Series here at the blog features our habits and rituals that we have for various aspects of our frequent trips to the island of Maui. Getting to know the island so well after all these years, having a few traditions adds a little continuity to our visits, while still giving us so much flexibility to enjoy many new things each trip.
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