Every year, Hilo becomes abuzz with excitement as the annual Merrie Monarch Festival rolls around. A weeklong celebration of hula, Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit, it’s easy to get lost in the festivities and goings on. With a hoolaulea (celebration), an art festival, crafts fair and much-anticipated hula competitions happening on different days, make […]
In the early morning darkness, brittle ʻaʻā lava rock cracks, then crumbles beneath my feet. Navigating my way toward Hawaiʻi Island’s rugged western shoreline, there is barely enough light to see the path ahead. I stop briefly and gaze at the infinite spread of glistening stars, the same twinkling lights early Polynesians used many centuries
Driving down a one-lane road with no cell signal, I worry that I may have rented the wrong car for this adventure. I’ve already taken two wrong turns (thanks to Siri) and am now on Upolu Airport Road, cutting through farms on my left and windmills on my right. The airport at the end of
Nestled along the slopes of the dormant Hualalai volcano on Hawaii Island, a traditional stone forno (Portuguese for “oven”) burns with sweet anticipation. Master baker Laurie Westrich, her hair wrapped up in a palaka (checkered) bandana and wearing a matching apron dusted with white flour, rakes the hot kiawe coals heating up the forno’s domed
After two nights of group hula competition, the 54th annual Merrie Monarch Festival at the Edith Kanakaole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaii Island concluded with awards given to the best halau (groups) in the Islands. Twenty-nine halau (20 wahine, nine kane) vied for top awards with their kahiko (ancient) and auana (modern) performances, telling moolelo (legends)
When it’s in full swing, the Merrie Monarch Festival brings out more than just the best in hula. Off the stage, attendees put on a quite a show of their own in stylish clothing, headwear and accessories. Floral prints, intricate lei and a bold affinity for color found their way onto the crowd this year,
The chants about Panaewa Forest, which lies between Kilauea and the ocean on Hawaii Island, describe it as having been created by the violent force of Pele and healed by Hiiaka. It became a lush rain forest, with towering ohia lehua trees and red lehua rain. The environment was rich with every plant needed for healing
The heart of the Merrie Monarch Festival centers around more than half-a-century of hula, but it’s no secret that attendees also gravitate to Hilo for its famous dining and shopping scene—craft fairs, pop-up shops and hole-in-the-wall eateries. WHERE TO EAT Hilo’s merriest time of the year also brings visitors together from all over the globe, where
Traditional hula practices thrive on Hawaii Island, particularly during Merrie Monarch. We asked lunar calendar expert and researcher Kalei Nuuhiwa for her insights on how to respectfully approach people who are practicing their traditions. Picture this: It’s a perfectly beautiful day at the Kilauea crater. The smoke is rising above Halemaumau. The wind is blowing softly
If you’ve ever caught sight of a pueo, the Hawaiian short-eared owl, perched and looking at you with its wide, intense stare, or seen one flying in the air with its elongated wings, swooping over a large, grassy field, you know immediately that you’ve just witnessed something special. “I can’t think of any other animal
People watching manta rays from Rays on the Bay at the Kona Sheraton by Chance Carpenter “The name of the manta—hahalua—can be interpreted as ‘two breaths,’” she says, “ha, meaning breath, and lua, meaning two … When mantas leap [out of the water], their experience from below transcends into our sphere … Their transcendence speaks
Climbing into the hills of Kau, the Big Island’s southeastern district, there’s a breathtaking, sun-streaked view of coastal plain and shoreline that stretches from the far-off lava fields of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to the cattle-dotted, green pastures now surrounding me. I’m riding in a truck that’s absorbing most of the bumps on a country road
