 And welcome to At the Crossroads. I am your host, Pisha King, and we have a wonderful show for you today. We're going to talk about the 42nd Annual Prince Lot Hula Festival. I'm really excited to talk about this. This Hula Festival has been going on for 42 years, as I've mentioned, and it's presented by the Moana Lua Gardens Foundation. Wonderful time we're going to have today. Moana, why don't you join me as we talk with my dear friends, Pauline Warsham and Keiolani Warsham, both participants and leaders in the Moana Lua Gardens Foundation and the Prince Lot Hula Festival. Thank you both for being with me today. Aloha, Kisho. Aloha. Thank you for asking us. Oh, it's totally my pleasure. I want to get the word out about one of Hawaii's largest non-competitive hula festivals. Is that right? That's correct. Awesome. I did a little homework. So why don't you tell us, what is the history of the Prince Lot Hula Festival? Well, the Prince Lot Hula Festival was established in 1978 as a gift to the community. That was during the time when the H3 controversy was going on, and there was a group of people who felt that instead of fragmenting the community, we wanted to unite the community. And they were the ones who were the founders of the festival. And the festival is free and open to the public, and we want to keep it that way because it's a grassroots community event. It was named after Prince Lot because Prince Lot had his summer home in Moana Lua. And so the history of Moana Lua Valley is that it used to be a center of hula enchanting. And since Prince Lot, when he lived there, helped to revive the hula, or cultural practices, because they had gone underground during the missionary time, he invited hula halau from the west side to entertain at his parties in Moana Lua. So hence the name, the Prince Lot Hula Festival. I love that. Thank you so much. It is so enriching to hear about the revival of hula, because as you mentioned at one point, it was not allowed. It was forbidden. Right. And it's so special now that not only was something started and done about that, but it has continued for so long. I want to show a picture, picture number one of some hula dancers here. I just love the bright colors. Look at that. This is the Oke Kuhi, which is a leading halau, in fact, one of the foremost halau on the big island in Hilo. And the Kumahula of that halau, Pua Kanakaole and her sister, Nalani Kanakaole, carry on the traditions of their mother, Auntie Edith Kanakaole, who is really one of the most respected, or was one of the most respected hula practitioners in Hawaii. May she rest in peace. I love the fact that everyone takes from their ancestors and builds upon that. Each family has something to offer. And they're from big island, but tell me, where do people come from for this festival? They come from all over. Of course, we have a huge contingent from Japan, because in Japan, hula is very popular. And so they love coming to the Prince La Hula Festival. And we have people from the West Coast. And we have people from as far away as Belgium. Really? Yes, we have people who tell us that they plan to come for the Prince La Hula Festival every year, and they wouldn't miss it. So they're from around the world, Germany, Great Britain, and of course Asia. We have now coming people from China, from Korea, and from Australia and New Zealand. As they say, from all the four corners of the world, they come here to, dare I say, at the crossroads to the crossroads of the world, right here in Hawaii, where the Prince La Hula Festival. How important is that? That is amazing. That is amazing. It is, right? So now you're the managing director of the Moana Lula's Gardens Foundation. That's correct. Is that correct? Okay. Now, how long have you been involved with that? About 14 years. Okay. So now, I love that you're involved, and then we have our dear friend, well, I'll get into what she is actually, Eolani, and she is a volunteer, but you two are the first mother-daughter team I've had on my show. So you're making history just being here together, number one. Number two, why don't you tell us, how did you become involved in the festival as a volunteer? Well, of course you're my mother. But I wouldn't volunteer for an organization unless I really believed in it as well. And it supports the Hawaiian community in just so many ways that I really felt that it was an incredible and exciting opportunity and a privilege, quite frankly, to become a part of this Hula Festival. I can tell right off the bat, you have just warmed my heart so much, she is so passionate about it. I really, really appreciate you being here. We're going to show picture number two. And this is of the vendors, why don't you talk to us about vendors that are there? These are our demonstrators, you know, part of the Prince La Hula Festival is really to showcase our cultural arts and our traditions, and of course, Poi Pounding is one of them. And so this is a cultural practitioner that is talking about, you know, the significance of kalo and what Poi meant to the Hawaiian people, not only being a staple but also being something revered in the Hawaiian culture. Beautiful, I love that. So in addition to some great performances, you have all of these vendors that are there and it sounds like there's entertainment, education, and of course selling of beautiful products and food, got to have the food. Right, it's a main staple. Exactly, now tell us, what do you do with the volunteers? Are you in charge of the volunteers and are they able to see the shows if they're working? So actually what I do for the festival is pretty much year round. Many people don't realize how much work is involved in putting on a festival of this scale. It used to be a one day festival and it has grown to a two day festival and so basically we start in the fall and start preparing for the festival in July and it involves doing grant writing which my mother is heavily involved in and sometimes I help out in. And then it also involves, you know, getting a lot of sponsorship for the festival as well as doing administrative tasks and preparing mail merges and basically writing the script which I'm in charge of. Now on festival day I don't always get to come to Hawaii since I live in California now but during the festival when I am able to come I do things like make sure that our volunteers have breaks sometimes and make sure that our announcer Kimo is taken care of as well as I make sure that I take the videos for our Facebook page which I love. I love your Facebook page. That's where I got all of my information from. That's my other daughter. Oh really? Yes. I love that. Yeah. Well I want to tell you she's done a great job. Thank you. You are all of you. This sounds like it's very family oriented not just for you all but for the participants as well. So we're going to talk after the break, we're not going to break now but we're going to talk after the break about the performers. But I want to talk a little bit about something that Kei Olani mentioned, the sponsors. It sounds like you have some really important sponsors. Who are some of your sponsors? Well, our largest of course is the Hawaii Tourism Authority and without their help we wouldn't be able to put on a festival of this scope. So we're really grateful to them for their support over the years. And then some of our other major sponsors, the national scene is the National Endowment for the Arts. I think they've been very supportive of cultural events like ours who really tried to perpetuate and continue our ancient tradition. So they've been a very loyal supporter for many years. And then we have the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and they support the festival and understand the benefit of the festival and the showcasing of our Hawaiian culture to the entire community. So they have been a great sponsor for us too. And then we have some very loyal sponsors, some local companies like Hawaiian Airlines and Matt's Navigation and the Queen's Medical Center and the Royal Hawaiian Center. And then we have some new sponsors that come in like this year, Koga Engineering, because they did a huge project in Kamananui Valley. And we're grateful to each and every one of them. We couldn't really do the festival without help from everybody. Right, right. I understand that. And those are really good sponsors. Very important to have. And it sounds like there's a lot of community involvement as well. We're going to take a look at picture number three, which I believe is also vendor. Because in addition to all of the sponsorship, which is very important, you also have an opportunity for small business owners to become involved by selling their products. So why don't we talk about what we see here? And that's another part of the festival is that we want to support our native Hawaiian businesses. I mean, some of them are very small businesses. But the revenue that they generate from events like the Prince Laihule Festival really help to support their families. And the other thing is that they're excellent artisans. And so we want to showcase the work that they do. Because a lot of times, you know, when in Waikiki, you go to stores, you don't see handcrafted items like you would at the Prince Laihule Festival. Exactly. And I've been to the festival. I've been here four years, so I think I've been here every year, but last year I missed it. And so I want to touch briefly the first year I came, I don't think it was at the palace. Where were you before? We were at Moanalua Gardens for 39 years, and that was a wonderful location for us. We enjoyed it very much. On our 40th anniversary, we moved to Eleni Palace. And of course, that has been a great move for us. It's more centrally located, and so we see a lot more visitors because it's closer to Waikiki and they can just hop on a bus and come over to the palace. And so it's been a great move for us and, you know, for the community as well. Yes, I celebrate that move. I enjoy sitting out there with my blanket and some, of course, delicious food. And then they're shopping and all those wonderful things to get involved. And then the dancers, oh, I love it. I love it. I love it. So we're going to talk about that. And it's about time for us to take a break. So if you're OK, I'm going to take a break and we'll be right back. We're going to talk more about the 42nd annual Prince Lot Pula Festival coming up this Saturday and Sunday, July 20th and 21st. And we'll be right back. You're watching At the Crossroads. Hello, everybody. My name is Walter Kawaii. I'm your host for a monthly live streaming video entitled Ukulele Songs of Hawaii, where I bring on guests. We enjoy talking story about the music industry here in Hawaii, sometimes going back 50 decades, if possible, and always having some good fun talking with entertainers. We're here located at Think Tech, Hawaii downtown Honolulu at the Pioneer Plaza building and in their studios. And so join me next month for Ukulele Songs of Hawaii. Aloha. My name is Wendy Lowe, and I want you to join me as we take our health back. On my show, all we do is talk about things in everyday life in Hawaii or abroad. I have guests on board that will just talk about different aspects of health in every in every way, whether it's medical health, nutritional health, diabetic health, you name it, we'll talk about it. Even financial health will even have some of the Miss Hawaii's on board and all the different topics that I feel will make your health and your lifestyle a lot better. So come join me. I welcome you to take your health back. Mahalo. Aloha and welcome back to At the Crossroads, where we're having a wonderful discussion about the 42nd annual Prince Lotula Festival. It is coming up July 20th and 21st, 2019. It's important for you to be there. So let's continue our discussion. Ladies, thank you so much for being here and sharing with us. Our pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I am excited to get the word out because it's going to be another festival. I mean, another time of fun at the festival. And we have one more picture we want to share about the vendors that are there. So we're going to show a picture for about the vendors, because again, look, there's so many different items that looks like jewelry. Yeah, right. And those are Tahitian pearls, which are very popular here in Hawaii and a lot of hula dancers wear them as well. And another example, you know, of the quality of crafters and vendors that you will see at the Prince Lotula Festival. People come down because, you know, we have assortment of different Hawaiian or Hawaiian inspired items. And so it's a great way to get your shopping done and really support our local vendors. Right. So one thing you can do at the festival is shop and support your vendors. Get food and enjoy the meal and all of that. But the most important thing is the dancers. That's exactly right. Watching all of them. We're going to take our first look at a picture of some of the hula dancers. Oh, I love that. And you will see a variety of different hula at the Prince Lotula Festival. This particular halau is based in Aiea, Kapa Nani O'Lilinoy, and the kumuhula is Lilinoy Lindsay. And she's the niece of Joan Lindsay, who is a very famous hula dancer and then started her own studio. Wonderful. And so we have lots more of few more pictures to share from the different halaus. I'm looking forward to seeing those. One of the things I noticed is that there is a lot of homage paid to the originators of each different halau. And I think that is so important that you never forget who taught you. And what I also love about it is the musicians and the singing and chanting that goes on. But can you tell me the differences between the types of hula that is performed at the festival? Sure. We have two styles, and that's awana, which is more contemporary hula. And then we have kahiko, which is traditional or ancient hula. And the kahiko style actually involves a lot of chanting or ole, as we call it. And many of those ole go back to ancient times. So the halau who performed those ole really are helping to perpetuate, you know, the chance of ancient Hawaii. And that's one thing about the Prince La Hula Festival that I think is important to note is that, you know, we're carrying on those traditions and we're teaching our younger generation to carry on those traditions. And that is so important. Now, you've been involved with this festival for how many years now? I lose track. It's about five or six years now. Amazing. And so when you're working with these different groups, what are some of the things that you see that takes place where, whether it's the preparation or they really nervous before they go and perform? Well, the halau are consummate performers. They just love performing. And I think it's a way for them to express their love of Hawaii to everyone who comes and visit. So it's really a privilege to watch them. And what people don't realize is that the halau create these individual performances for the Prince La Hula Festival. So I love the fact that the Prince La Hula Festival allows the creativity of the halau to really just perform what they're feeling. And so it's just so beautiful. And sometimes you will see performances at the Prince La that you might not necessarily see at the halau's other performances in the state of Hawaii. So if someone is attending, which I'm sure there will be thousands that will attend this weekend's event, they're going to get a one of a kind show. That's correct. Something they've never seen before and will probably never see again. Right. That's the difference, I think, between being non competitive and competitive. And the Kuma Hula love the Prince La Hula Festival because you don't just bring your best dancers, you bring all of your dancers. So everyone from the three year old cakey to the 80 year old kupuna can do exactly as you Lenny had mentioned, you know, to share. It's all about sharing their love of Hula to the community. And there are some moments that you would never see at any other Hula event because there's spontaneous moments. And so you get authentic Hula at the Prince La Hula Festival. And I think that is what the audience connects with and they really enjoy. And they come away actually touched by what they see. I actually get to bomb sores. They say here chicken skin because of watching and just knowing that this is such a great demonstration and expression of emotion and feeling and history and love and just so much passion and commitment. And the fact that there is no pressure to perform because of a competition would rather just an expression of love. Yeah. Yeah. Or an expression of Aloha. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. From all over the world. So now let's see what can we expect that's going to happen over the next 48 hours? What time should we arrive? And then at the beginning, before everything gets started, I know there's something special happening then to give us an overview of what the festival will look like. Sure. Well, you're going to see two days of great Hula. We have 21 Halao coming to perform over the two days. On Saturday, we start actually with a pre-festival concert by the Kamehameha Lumnai Glee Club. And so they'll be there with their members to perform traditional Hawaiian melodies and entertain the audience before we start. We start at nine o'clock on Saturday. And the first event will be the conferring of our Namaqa Hela Oli Award on Master Chantor Kamawala Chan. And then we'll go into our Hula program, which will include after an absence of about four years, Robert Casamaro and his Halao. And they are excellent. You know, they have won the swept, actually, the awards at the Mary Monarch for going way back 30 years ago or more. And so people really, you know, come to enjoy his performance. So he will be there at 10.05 a.m. And then, you know, we're going to have a good mixture of both Awana and Kahiko throughout the day, ending at 4 p.m. Wonderful. Now that's Saturday. So we start as early as 830 and that is Kamehameha giving us a concert. Right. The Glee Club. Right. The Glee Club. And so I want to see that. I do. I'm going to tell you, I never knew there was so much singing that happened in Hawaii until I got here. And so many schools have these wonderful competitions. So if you want to come out for that, start at 830 on Saturday and you'll get to hear the Kamehameha Glee Club perform a wonderful pre-festival concert. And then the all day event takes place until four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Right. And then Sunday, what time do we begin? We begin at nine o'clock. Nine o'clock. Right. And the award that we're going to present at nine o'clock during our opening ceremonies will be our Malia Cowe Award. And that award actually, you know, is important for us to present because what we want to do is recognize Kuma Hula. And that award was was designed specifically to honor Kuma Hula, who, you know, spend their lifetimes actually teaching our younger generation, you know, about our Hula traditions. So we felt it was important to recognize and honor them. And this year, our honoree will be the late Hokulani Derego. She was the founder of Halao Hula or Hokulani, which is one of the biggest and largest and most respective respected Halao on the west side of the island. I love it. I love the fact that you're honoring others. It's not just a day of music and fun and activity, but you're also paying homage to others. So let's take a look at a couple more pictures. I'm excited to see. Oh, look at those colors. What do we have here? And that's perfect because that's Halao Hula or Hokulani. And so you will see, you know, the excellence of her Halao and the energy that they show in their kahiko performances. So that Halao, of course, will be presenting. Hokulani had three daughters. They're all Kuma Hula. So they're following in their mother's tradition, and they will be the first Halao up on Sunday. And they are going to bring, I've been told, a hundred dancers, so it's going to be a wonderful performance. Oh, my goodness. I'm getting chill bumps, literally. So a hundred dancers. And, you know, I have seen that. I've seen where you have the stage pull even down in the grass sometimes. It's amazing to see this. What I loved about that picture, in addition to the colors and the beauty and the pride that you could easily see in their faces was how serious they are, even though it's not a competition. Right. They are putting their best foot forward each and every time. Right. So our next picture. Why don't you tell us what this is? A little bit blurry. I don't know if you can clear that up at all, but it's a beautiful picture. Yes, it is. It's it's one of our Halao that I'm sorry. But I yeah, we can't see that one as well. And that's OK. Identify the Halao. But again, you know, an example of the beautiful hula that you'll be seeing on Sunday. Yeah, I cannot wait. I cannot wait. So any parting words that you want to leave with any of the viewers about the event? Yes, we want everybody to come down to Eleni Palace on Saturday and Sunday, July 20th and 21st. Bring your family, you know, bring your friends. It's free admission to the festival and also free admission to the palace. And it's a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in two days of Hawaiian culture. Yes. So if you've never been, go. Yes, this is an event you do not want to miss. Any parting words you want to share? I think the Prince Lot Hula Festival is really a cultural experience for Hawaii. And it's like the merry monarch for Oahu. So it really is an amazing event. If you've never been, you should really come down to watch it in person is even more amazing than to watch it on TV. Amazing. I have enjoyed talking with both of you and learning so much. Remind me again of the two types of hula that we'll see. Awana, which is contemporary and kahiko, which is traditional or ancient. OK, so now if you have never heard the different types, especially if you're a visitor here, if you're here for your vacation, I think the location at Iolani Palace is exceptional, like idealistic. It doesn't get any better than that because you have a lot of passerbys who may have otherwise not been there and it's free. And the palace is going to be open. I wasn't aware that you could also go and tour the palace at that time as well. Right. Right. So you get so much just by showing up. Right. Yeah. So I would recommend that everyone come on out this Saturday and Sunday, July 20th and 21st, starting at 8 30 on Saturday and 9 o'clock on Sunday. And enjoy with all of us, the 42nd annual Prince Lot Hula Festival. Thank you all so much. Thank you for the hard work that you do at the Moana Lua Gardens Foundation. And thank you so much for being a volunteer and following in your mother's footsteps. You'll probably take over whenever she decides to retire. She ever does. It's too much work. It's too much work. No, no, you have to. What do you think you're here for? Secrets out now. You're being groomed. Thank you so much, both of you. It's been a joy and a pleasure. And we hope to hear back from you this time next year as we get ready for the next one. Thank you, Keisha. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. And thank you for watching. You've been watching at the Crossroads with your host, Keisha King, and we enjoyed having you. We'll see you next time at the Crossroads. Aloha.