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Kaua’i 4th of July Celebrations

The 4th of July is pretty much the quintessential summer holiday. Everyone heads to their nearest beach, throws some burgers and ‘dogs on the grill, and spends the day soaking up the summer sun before ending the night with a good fireworks show. It’s a day spent enjoying the company of family and friends, and marveling at how cool it is when things explode into colorful showers of sparks in the sky. The 4th of July is no different on Kaua’i, and to help you celebrate we’ve put together a short list of family-friendly events that will help you kick off your holiday weekend with a bang!

 

The Bad News: Kaua’i’s 33rd Annual Concert in the Sky is Cancelled

 

Each year Kaua’i Hospice puts on the annual Concert in the Sky in Lihu’e as one of their major fundraisers. The event typically has live music and performances, delicious food, water slides, a keiki fun zone, plenty of artisan craft vendors, and an elaborately choreographed fireworks show at the end of the night. Unfortunately, this year’s event has been cancelled due to ongoing construction at Vidinha Stadium, and the risk of igniting flammable construction materials with the fireworks. 

 

While it’s certainly a major disappointment for locals and visitors alike, there’s still plenty happening on the island to make your weekend festive and fun!

 

The Good News: There’s Still Plenty of Shenanigans to Get Into

 

Quick Facts for America’s Most West Freedom Fest!

Topping our list of 4th of July activities this year is America’s Most West Freedom Fest hosted down at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kekaha. Kicking off on Thursday, July 3rd at 6pm, AMWFF will have live music all night, craft and food vendors, a keiki fun zone, and an awesome fireworks show at 9:30pm. This year’s performers include Moloka’i’s own 7 piece island-reggae group High Watah, and island-hip hop star Spawnbreezie! You’ll also have the chance to see performances by Miss Aloha Hula 2025 Jaedyn Pavao and her halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leināʻala. The event is FREE to attend for all U.S. citizens, and gates open at 4pm. For more information check out Pacific Missile Range’s website here!

Garden Isle Racing Association’s “Battle on the Beach” flyer!

If you’re more mechanically than musically inclined, and don’t mind a drive down to the South Shore, the Garden Isle Racing Association is putting on their 2-day battle on the beach drag race tournament Friday, July 4th and Saturday, July 5th. Tickets are $15 for guests 12 and up, and kids 11 and under get in free! Gates open at 8am to come and see the cars up close and in person, qualifying races start at 2pm, and elimination rounds start at 7pm, with a motorcycle stunt show midway through. If you like what you see Friday night, be sure to come back down on Saturday to watch the fastest 8 dragsters compete for the cash prizes! For tickets you can click here, and for more information on the races you can visit Garden Isle Racing Association’s Facebook page.

 

 

For those of us looking for something a little quieter and more laidback, the First Friday Art Night at Hā Coffee in Lihu’e will have live music, live painting, an open mic event, and a beer garden with delicious local food vendors! The event runs from 5-8pm, is free to attend, and lets you immerse yourself in Kaua’i’s local art community through live performances. For more information you can click here!

 

Forget About Drag Racing and Live Music, Can I Set Off My Own Fireworks That Night?

 

Consumer fireworks packages do NOT require a permit on Kaua’i.

If you’d like to have your own celebrations, consumer fireworks ARE allowed on Kaua’i for the 4th of July! There are, of course, some rules: fireworks are only to be ignited from 1pm to 9pm on the 4th, and certain firecrackers require a permit that you can purchase through the Kaua’i Fire Department. Most of the common fireworks such as fountains, ground spinners, sparklers, smoke bombs, and mini tanks do not require you to have a permit, but firecrackers like the Black Cat branded ones will require a permit. Additionally, fireworks are ONLY to be lit on private property, and you should make sure to have a hose or bucket of water nearby for proper dousing and fire safety. For a more in depth overview of fireworks rules, you can visit the Kaua’iNow website here.

 

We hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July this year, however you choose to celebrate! We’ll certainly be spending the day swimming, grilling, and relaxing with our loved ones before lighting a few sparklers of our own!

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From Makahiki to Mele Kalikimaka: How Christmas Came to Hawai’i

If you’ve ever celebrated Christmas on the islands, you know it’s a totally different affair. Kanakaloka, affectionately called Shaka Claus, arrives on an outrigger canoe instead of a sleigh, palm trees get decorated in lieu of traditional evergreens, and Christmas is often a day for family cookouts on the beach. Before the Christian holiday and its traditions arrived with the Protestant missionaries in the 1800’s, though, Native Hawaiians had celebrated with a four-month long New Year Festival called Makahiki. Read on to learn more about Makahiki, the ancient precursor to Christmas and New Years on the islands!

 

Makahiki: A Time of Peace and Celebration

 

Much like the holiday season on the mainland (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), the festival of Makahiki was a time of celebration, community, and fresh starts for the new year. Makahiki means “year” or “new year” in Hawaiian, and the festival honored the god of fertility, peace, and agriculture, Lono-i-ka-makahiki. During this period, stretching from October/November – February/March, war with neighbors was forbidden, or kapu, as was daily labor, and people could look forward to feasts, sporting events, and hula in their communities. 

 

A Hawaiian one-legged wrestling match at a Makahiki celebration

The start of the festival season was dependent on when the star cluster Makali’i (the Pleiades in Western astronomy), was visible from the Western side of each island after sunset. The next new moon after the sighting of Makali’i would begin the Makahiki season, with traveling celebrations occurring clockwise around the islands. A figure of the god Lono, accompanied by Akua Pa’ani, the god of sports, was carried across the island, with his arrival in an ahupua’a (a traditional Hawaiian land division) marking the start of the actual festival. 

 

 

Before Lono’s arrival, ho’okupu (offerings) were made to both local ali’i (royalty), and Lono himself. Once Lono made his way into the

A game of ‘ulu maika (Hawaiian “bowling”) at Oahu’s Makahiki celebration

ahupua’a, though, it was a time of hula dancing, feasting, music, and sporting events for the people. Wrestling, boxing, Hawaiian “bowling”, and canoe races were all common events, as well as lava sled racing on some of the islands. Priests, or kahuna, held important religious ceremonies to ensure a plentiful growing season, and a large ho’okupu was set adrift at sea as the final offering to Lono.

 

On the final days of the festival, the high chief would take a canoe out to sea, and upon his return he would have to ward off spears being thrown at him, reenacting the legend of Lono. The high chief would then make the final offerings to Lono, and the festival would end with a village-wide feast at dawn. While the high chief and high priest would continue religious ceremonies for several more days, for the average people the festival was over, and the carriers would take Lono to the next ahupua’a to continue the festivities. This circuit of festivals would last about four months before Lono finally returned to the West side of the island. 

 

Makahiki Becomes Mele Kalikimaka: Missionaries Arrive in Hawai’i

 

In the 1820’s, the first Protestant missionaries began to arrive in Hawai’i from the United States, which would change the structure of Hawaiian society and the holidays that were deemed important. The missionaries were incredibly successful at imposing Christian values and holy days upon the Native Hawaiians, which meant Makahiki fell to the wayside, and Christmas took over. The first recorded instance of a Christmas celebration in Hawai’i occurred on Kauai in 1786 with the arrival of English sea captain George Dixon, however it did not become a holiday in the Kingdom of Hawai’i until King Kamehameha IV proclaimed it in 1862.  This is not to say Makahiki disappeared completely, though, as it became popular once again during the second Hawaiian Renaissance in the 1970’s!

 

Shaka Claus and Christmas Palm Trees: Modern Christmas in Hawai’i

 

Fabulously festive Christmas palm trees

Like any part of the Western world, Christmas has become firmly rooted as an important winter holiday, even if it looks a little different on the islands! Instead of Santa Claus donning a red suit and gliding across rooftops in a sleigh, Kanakaloka arrives in an outrigger canoe and wears slippers and a Hawaiian shirt. Decorated evergreen trees are replaced by towering palm trees covered in lights, and a cozy Christmas by the fire is swapped for a beachside barbecue. The essence of the holiday remains much the same as when the Hawaiians celebrated Makahiki, though: good food, good company, and eagerly anticipated celebrations to end the old year and ring in the new!

 

 

Whether you’ve already celebrated Makahiki, or you’re looking forward to Christmas and any other winter holidays, the Kauai Kahuna team is wishing you all a very merry holiday season, and best wishes for the new year. Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka!

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Queen Emma Kaleleonalani and the 36th Annual Emalani Festival

The nation of Hawai’i has had many famous monarchs throughout its history, from the long lines of the Kamehameha Dynasty, to the Renaissance King Kalākaua. Almost as powerful as the ali’i (royalty) on the throne, however, were the wives at their side. One such woman, Queen Emma Kaleleonālani, the wife of Kamehameha IV, rose to prominence as a champion of the Hawaiian people, particularly Hawaiian women and the poor. Now, every year on Kauai’s South Shore a festival is held in her honor, and to commemorate the historic journey Queen Emma took to Koke’e in 1871 while grieving the loss of her husband and child. Read on to learn more about this powerful figure, and to find out more about the Eō e Emalani Festival!

 

From Emma to Emalani: the Queen’s Early Life and Rise to Prominence

 

Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV

Even from the time of her birth in 1836, Emma, or Emalani (Royal Emma) as she was often called, was an important person to the upper castes of Hawaiian society. Born to a high chief and chiefess, and adopted into the family of high chiefess Grace Kamaʻikuʻi Young Rooke and physician Thomas Rooke, Emma was raised in high society, and attended the Royal School with other children of Hawaiian ali’i. Her classmates included her future husband and king of Hawai’i, Alexander Liholiho, as well as future king and queen David Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani. Even though Emma was the great-grandniece of Kamehameha I, because her heritage was mixed Hawaiian and British, some thought her unfit to marry King Kamehameha IV. Nonetheless the two were wed in a happy ceremony, and two years later they had their only son, Prince Albert Edward Kamehameha. 

 

A Champion of the People: The Queen’s Hospital and School for Girls

 

While Kamehameha IV was alive, Queen Emma undertook two significant projects to help her people. The first was Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu, now known as the Queen’s Medical Center. Inspired by her adoptive father’s work as a physician, and further pushed by the growing number of Native Hawaiians dying due to foreign diseases like smallpox, Emma and Kamehameha campaigned door-to-door for donations for the establishment of a public hospital, and in 1859 the Queen’s Hospital was opened to “protect the Hawaiian race”. The hospital offered free healthcare services to poor Hawaiians, most notably free smallpox vaccines, and Queen Emma was said to have visited most every day she was in Honolulu. Queen’s Medical Center remains a world-renowned hospital, and a continuous pillar of financial support for Native Hawaiian health programs. 

 

Emma’s other humanitarian undertaking was the establishment of St. Andrew’s Priory school for girls in 1867. Although Emma was rigorously schooled at the American-style Royal School, this was a privilege afforded to her only due to her status as royalty. In broader Hawaiian society, it was typical that only boys were allowed to attend schools, and Queen Emma sought to rectify this by establishing an all-girls school that would provide a high quality education like that of the boys’ schools. After traveling to England to seek the counsel of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Emma returned to Hawai’i with the Sisters of the Church of England, and the school was opened on Ascension Day in 1867. Like the Queen’s Hospital, St. Andrew’s is still operational to this day, and continues to offer high quality education for the young girls of Hawai’i. 

 

The Loss of Kamehameha IV, Prince Albert Edward, and Emma’s Journey to Kaua’i

 

Emma Kaleleonālani in traditional widower’s weeds after the death of her husband Kamehameha IV

Despite the happy marriage between Emma and Kamehameha IV, their son Albert Edward fell seriously ill and died in 1862 at just 4 years old. Both parents were grief-stricken, and Queen Emma came to be known as Kaleleokalani, meaning “the flight of the heavenly chief” in remembrance of her son. King Kamehameha IV became severely depressed due to the loss of his son, and considered abdicating the throne to mourn in peace with his wife. Unfortunately, his depression over the loss of his son led to his worsening health, and in 1863 King Kamehameha IV died at just 29 years old. Now grieving the loss of both husband and child, Queen Emma once again changed her name to Kaleleonālani, “the flight of the heavenly chiefs”, to honor both Kamehameha and Albert Edward. Although she was just 27, Kaleleonālani would not remarry, nor have any more children. 

 

After several years spent traveling the world for personal and religious purposes, Emma Kaleleonālani came to Kaua’i in December of 1870 to heal her wounded soul. She resided in a humble cottage in Lawai on the South Shore, and spent her time tending to her beautiful and extensive garden, and walking by the bluffs in solitude. In January of 1871, wishing to see the beautiful Kilohana of Hanalei (a breathtaking viewpoint of Hanalei town and the Pacific Ocean from the mountain cliffs), Queen Emma set off with her guide Kaluahi and a party of about 100. Starting in Waimea, and continuing through Koke’e and the Alakai Swamp, the group trekked for two days, with Emma keeping spirits high through chants and hula performances the whole time. When they returned from the journey, the Queen was celebrated with a grand luau, which served as the inspiration for today’s Emalani Festival!

 

The Annual Emalani Festival

 

A previous “Queen Emma” arriving at the Festival on horseback.

Since 1988, to honor Queen Emma Kaleleonālani’s first journey to Kaua’i, an annual Emalani Festival has been held in November. Each year people are chosen to represent Queen Emma, her guide Kaluahi, and her attendants, and many hālau (groups or schools) are invited to perform in her honor, much like the original grand luau that was held. Performances include traditional Hawaiian music, chants, and dances, and there is traditional Hawaiian food, lei making, and exhibits available for attendees. Each festival, Queen Emma and her entourage arrive on horseback at 10am, marking the official start of the festivities. From there the hālau will perform in her honor and, as is customary, the Queen may offer a dance of her own in thanks. This beautiful and interesting event is an opportunity to witness the recreation of a historical event, try some genuine Hawaiian cuisine, and witness traditional Hawaiian ceremonial protocol. Attendance is free for all, and the Festival will take place Saturday, November 2nd 2024, from 9am to 4pm in Koke’e State Park. You can park at the Kekaha Neighborhood Center and follow the signs to the Festival from there! For more information you can click here or here. Although the bulletin is several years old, we found the program for the 2020 virtual event to be quite interesting when putting this blog post together. If you’d like to look over it, you can do so here.

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