Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 11, 1 November 2007 — Plynesia Power [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Plynesia Power

To kiek off the autumn season of peaee, harvest and healing traditionally celebrated throughout Polynesia, the annual Makahiki Maohi Festival returns to Honolulu featuring arts, food and entertainment from Hawai'i, Tonga, Sāmoa, Aotearoa and Tahiti. The colorful panPolynesian festival will be held Nov. 17 and 18, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Kap'iolani Park Bandstand. Last year, the Maohi Festival traveled to Tahiti at the invitation of that island nation's minister of culture. There, the festival lasted a week and was hailed as a showcase for artists who combined eul-

tural expression with social activism. If you missed the Tahiti trip, take heart: many of the same groups are on the hill this year, as "cultural cousins" from around the Pacific enjoy a mega-mixed plate of lua, siva, haka, hula, oli, tapa, kapa, lomi, fofo, pe'a, tattoo, ori and, of course, kalo galore. Musical luminaries featured at this year's festival include Genoa Keawe, Amy Hānaiali'i, Mākaha Sons, Aunty Moana Chang, Ra'iatea Helm, Melveen Leed and many more from Hawai'i, plus Ko Vaihi E (from Tonga), Te Wamanga Maori o Aotearoa and Terii Tehana Taputu o Tahiti. □

HANANA • EVENTS

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