Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park to Host 33rd Annual Cultural Festival Sat., July 13

Artwork courtesy of Dietrich Varez

News Release Date: July 1, 2013

Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018

Hawaii National Park, Hawai'i  – Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park will host the 33rd Annual Cultural Festival on Sat., July 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival is free, and park entrance fees are waived all day.

This year's festival will be presented at the park's Kahua Hula (traditional hula platform) at Ka'auea, south of Kīlauea Visitor Center. This annual, one-day gala event is extremely popular with the Hawai'i Island community and visitors alike. As many as 5,000 people are expected to attend.

Festival entertainment is an extravaganza of traditional Hawaiian culture, and includes performances by such notable hula groups and entertainers as Keiki o Hālau o Kekuhi, Hālau Ulumamo o Hilo Palikū, Hula Hālau Ke 'Ōlu Makani o Mauna Loa, Leabert Lindsey, Ben Ka'ili, and Diana Aki.

Festival participants can learn to strum the 'ukulele, play Hawaiian games, weave a coconut basket and lauhala bracelet, make feather kahili, and traditional lei. They can savor the flavors of Hawaii by sampling taro, sweet potato, sugar cane, and breadfruit. Skillful cultural practitioners will demonstrate how to beat kapa, weave a lauhala hat, sew a feather lei, plant a native garden, use plants as medicine, and more.

This event honors, preserves and perpetuates Hawaiian culture and supports Hawaiian programs, practitioners, hālau and musicians. Wear sunscreen and a hat. Bring water, rain jacket, and ground mat or chair. No pets. Hawaiian crafts, plate lunches, non-alcoholic beverages, and festival T-shirts will be offered for sale.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/havo or call [phone].

-NPS-