The Merrie Monarch Festival - A weeklong hula festival

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The whole week right after Easter day celebrations in Hilo, Hawaii is marked with the Merrie Monarch festival which covers everything and anything focused on the beautiful hula dance, competitions and various events celebrating the hula.

This is one of our most beautiful festivals to watch not only for the gorgeous dancing, wonderful live music and colorful outfits, but also for the gorgeous flower leis, head pieces and organic plant materials used as adornments. In the traditional styles of performances, traditional wear is all handmade from local materials including the coloring of costumes. This dancer below wears a crown of palm pods with indigenous flowers and moss for her hairpiece decoration.





Every day is set with amazing hula performances at many venues around Hilo town and many hula halau (hula schools) coming from all over the world converge to enjoy, compete and perform in the festivities. You will see some of the best hula performances in the world at this week long celebration of hula.

The first day of peformances starts on Easter Sunday and is a called the Ho'olaule'a (Hawaiian celebration or event). The event features well known local hula halau (hula schools) from Hawaii Island and is a favorite event with local audiences. Usually the auditorium is packed with audience members supporting their favorite hula halau with loud cheers and whistles. The energy level and spirit of Aloha is alive with the hula dancing along with audience participation.

Many hula halau include young keiki (children) dancing in their age groups and hula performances are encouraged at all ages from young to old. But the keiki hula performances are very popular and fun to watch at the Ho'olaule'a show.

Traditional hula dancing known as hula kahiko is a very popular dance to see and experience. Not only are the costumes handmade, but also their adornments, leis and musical instruments are hand done for each specific performance. Every part of a dance and costume is presented with authentic details with time consuming practise and performance. This is to present a hula dance to the audience so they can experience an authenthic and ancient hula performance.

The modern dance style called hula Auana is also popular with colorful outfits and a beautiful and expressive flowing style. Most hulas dances are typically done in this modern style of dance with popular Hawaiian music performed with an ukulele, guitar and base guitar combination and singers complementing the dance.

 

Here are a few more performance highlights of last night's event.

The Merrie Monarch Ho'olaulea hula performances in Hilo are just the start of a week long celebration of hula dancing at its finest. The rest of the week comprises of beautiful hula demonstrations, crafts fairs, singing competitions, various competitive dance performances and a colorful parade with the champions of the hula events.



To view more images of this event, please visit my flickr site below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12701042@N04/sets/72157633140716967/with/8610627747/



A hui hou (until we meet again) - hopefully at another beautiful hula performance at the Merrie Monarch festival in Hilo.

The Merrie Monarch Parade

Early spring in Hawaii island is our Merrie Monarch festival celebrating hula at its finest. Along with that comes an array of wonderful cultural, crafts events and many dance related venues, a few activities that I will be posting on in the next few posts.

My favorite event during the week is the parade which is very colorful and filled with pagentry and of course alot of flowers and leis. Its one of my favorite people events to photograph here on the island and gives me an opportunity to experiment and play with my craft.

Here's a nice sampling below of this beautiful parade.


A view of Hilo town with some beautiful Pa'u riders representing the various islands of Hawaii.

I loved the expression and the attitude of this guy sitting on a pick up truck

 

 

More beautiful pa'u riders, this group is from the island of Molokai represented by the green colors.

Alot of these men are actual paniolo or Hawaiian ranch hands that work the ranches on the island. This pa'u rider has beautiful leis made mostly of colorful croton leaves.

Here's a detail shot below.

The female pa'u rider has very elaborate leis and very well crafted and made with orchids, the orange abutilon and her hair piece made with bromeliads and heliconia blooms. These riders represent the colors and island of Lanai.

The beautiful pa'u riders coming from the island of Maui wear the hot pink outfits with gorgeous leis of roses and carnations.

A male pa'u rider and his horse, aren't the leis amazing to see?

Of course whats a hula parade without some dancing, this troupe all the way from Easter island peformed at one of the exhibition nights and is giving a parade performancee with  with their version of Tahitian dancing.

Our Miss Aloha 2012, the main female solo competion is very competitive with traditional and contemporary dancing along with chanting and singing. Miss Aloha had it all and rode down the boulevard to share her aloha.

 

This beautiful girl on a float was holding this hand woven hat to signify a deceased loved one, I'm glad I was able to capture this at the right moment.

 

Taiko drumming is very popular in Hawaii with many different clubs. I could never really capture the essence and beauty of this type of performance but with the tree in the background, you get some type of feeling and essence of the drumming reverberating throughout the parade route.

There's also little beauty pagaents that go on and they also get to share in the glory at this parade.

Here coffee is king and shared with the queens of Kau and Kona coffee along with their supped up camaro, what a classic!

 

Here's the backside to our pa'u rider from Kauai with purple colors and fresh leis adorned with dendrobium and cattleya orchids, isn't this just dazzling to see?

I hope you enjoy our little parade, its one of my favorites to see every year especially to photograph. Maybe you can come and visit this event with us live next year?

Fresh Leis for Aloha Friday

 

 

 

 

 

 

You've never smelled anything so intoxicating and sweet as a flower stand in Hawaii during the Merrie Monarch Festival.  Its almost impossible to not stop by these amazing display's of color and dazzling combinations of leis on display.

 

 

 

Then you get hit with hints of exotic smells of plumeria, ginger and unusual fragrances that draw you in and welcome you....you must stop and look at these leis and see the loving hands that crafted each and everyone on of them.

 

 

 

You need to see and smell almost everyone before you decide which one will be perfect...

not an easy decision.

 

 

 

 

 

How about something exotic and blue like this blue lei made with many petals of the

blue jade vine, a rare beauty only to be seen at this beautiful festival of aloha.

 

 

 

 

Yes to receive a lei from someone special is a wonderful gift...but giving one away is even more true with the meaning of lei giving and sharing your aloha.

 

 

 

To view other fertilizer posts go visit http://www.tootsietime.com and be surprised.