Merrie Monarch

For the last several years I've gone to a huge hula competation in Hilo on the Big Island. One of my hula sisters here has an "in" to getting tickets, and the same seats pretty much every year. People come from all over the world to see this. It's actually not something that just any halau (school) can enter...you have to be chosen.

This is really THE biggest thing going on in Hilo every year. The actual competition is only three evenings, but the festivities last pretty much for a week before hand. Then on the Sunday after, the whole town seems to close down for a rest.

Thanks to DeDe, we also have an "in" for rooms on Banyan Drive in Hilo. A lot of people end up staying farther away or not being able to get rooms or not have friends/relatives to room with.

The "Merrie Monarch" as he was called was King David Kalakaua. He is credited with reviving hula after the missionaries banned it here. So every night before the performances, everything stops to let the Royal Court enter the stadium. Then they leave it's the same thing. The people who portray the king and queen have been selected based on their community service.

So for three nights, it's hula, hula, hula. Since I've gone for so many years, I know to bring a stadium seat (for all those hours sitting), water and binoculars. Our seats are high up, this makes it easier to see the formations the dances are in.

This is such a big thing here that it's televised every night "live" on the ABC station. One of the news gals went to school with my kumu, so every year she comes up and does "spot interviews" with someone in our group. Good fun!

On Saturday, during the day there's a parade down the main street in Hilo. This year it was 2 hours long! There is something so unique to Hawai'i that's in pretty much every big parade. This is the Pa'u riders. These are ladies with ornate floral headdresses with long dresses. There is one for each of the different island. The flowers, shirts, dresses, horse lei are all in the colors of each island that they represent. For example, Oahu is yellow, Big Island is red, Maui is pink. It's really something to see.

On Thursday night it's the "Miss Aloha Hula" competition. These girls dance both ancient and modern hula by themselves. Friday night is the ancient or kahiko hula for men and women. Saturday night is the hula auana or modern hula. This is actually what most people are familar with.

"Hula is the language of the heart, therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people".

King Kalakaua

Aloha and a hui hou,

Jane