Welcome to Hawaiian Skies, the in-flight video magazine of Hawaiian Airlines. In our latest edition, we visit two very different museums…hear top pianists in action…go bouldering without a rope…experience the beauty of hula…catch a windsurfing competition at the sport’s spiritual home…meet the family that sets the standard for ukulele making…and witness artists doing what they do best.
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Watch tradition come alive at the largest non-competitive hula event in Hawai‘i. This annual festival honors Prince Lot Kapua‘iwa, who played a major role in reviving this uniquely graceful art. Many of the top halau, or schools of hula, gather here to share and showcase their art, demonstrating both ancient kahiko hula and chant, and modern ‘auana hula.
The Brothers Cazimero, one of Hawaii’s best-loved musical acts, recently invited some young guests to share the stage. Their concert at the historic Hawai‘i Theatre featured performances by the winners of the Keiki Hula Festival.
Viewers of Hawaiian Skies were recently treated to a special documentary entitled “Journey to Emalani,” chronicling a hula festival featuring three talented halau, or schools.
The festival is held yearly in commemoration of a journey taken in 1871 by Queen Emma Naea Rooke to the upland forests of Kokee in West Kaua‘i. It is a powerful evocation of a time and a spirit that have persevered through the ages.
There is no larger stage for hula than the Merrie Monarch Festival. This annual competition, held in the town of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, brings together the finest dancers and halau, or schools of hula, that the Islands have to offer.
The dance form Hawai‘i is most associated with is, of course, hula. But dance is taking several fascinating new directions here as well, exemplified by Tau Dance Theater. A blend of ancient stories and contemporary tools and techniques, these productions are at once utterly new and eternal.
Once a thriving sugar town dominated by the Waialua Sugar Mill, Waialua suffered a huge blow to its local industry when the mill closed down. Since then, however, the mill has been reborn as the site of many small factories and workshops.
It’s entrepreneurship, Hawaii style, as these businesses strive to offer unique products reflecting the spirit of the Islands.
Ho‘olaule‘a is a Hawaiian word meaning celebration, and in the case of Maui’s Olukai Ho‘olaule‘a it’s a celebration both of the ocean and of the cultures of the Islands. This two-day festival brings together elite paddlers eager to take on the legendary 8-mile Maliko downwind run. And it also attracts families who come to watch the races and enjoy traditional Hawaiian games, luau, hula and live music.
Hawaiian Skies viewers were recently treated to a short film on the life of the legendary navigator Mau Piailug. "Papa Mau," as he was known, earned a place in history as the navigator of the first voyage of the sailing canoe Hokulea from Hawai‘i to Tahiti, a journey undertaken with no modern navigational equipment whatsoever.
While tourism may be Hawaii’s main industry, it’s far from the only one. A surprisingly large number of products are grown, created or produced right in the Islands. There’s even a popular event dedicated to showcasing Hawai‘i products. It’s called the Made in Hawai‘i Festival, and it’s held once a year in Honolulu.
Every Memorial Day, thousands of people gather at Ala Moana Beach Park in Honolulu for the Lantern Floating Ceremony. It’s both spectacular in scale and moving in its aim, to remember the lives of those who have passed on.
