Sunday, April 18, 2010

Pau Riders for Today’s Flowers

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Pau riders in Hawaii are today’s flowers presentation. These amazing riders come from all the islands of Hawaii to participate in the annual Merrie Monarch Parade which caps a week of celebration for Hula Dancing.

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These riders are for me the most exhilarating part of the parade.

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Beautiful headdresses and lei ornamentation, and the huge leis draping each horse is painstakingly made with natural materials and fresh exotic flowers from each island.

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I love this amazing combination of purple and red chrysanthemums, roses and

carnations on these amazing and huge leis draping each horse.

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I could never get enough of these beautiful riders from each island.

 

 

 

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This last one is one of my favorite celebrants to the parade and quite a ham.

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To visit other flowers for today, go visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/

43 comments:

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

The parade is about beauty, the flowers and the girls and the men and the horses. A lovely sight indeed.
~bangchik

Sheila said...

Wow! How beautiful! Lucky you!

Carver said...

What a beautiful parade. You took some wonderful shots of the riders with their floral adornments.

Maia T said...

Lovely custom and parade.
Beautiful flowers everywhere, on the riders and horses. You are so lucky to live in such a place.

Helen/patientgardener said...

How stunning - its lovely to see the horses dressed up. Amazing colours

Mª Zélia said...

Muito bom conhecer um pouco da cultura de sua ilha, muito linda por sinal! Este desfile parece ser magnífico!!! Adorei passear pelo seu blog, ver as danças, os trajes típicos e os famosos colares de flores. Parabéns pelas lindas postagens!
um grande abraço carioca!

Ami said...

Wow, Noel, what an exotic parade! Very beautiful, those leis on Horse and the riders are stunning. Love, love the last picture! Thanks for sharing this with us!

Kate-Marita Pettersen said...

This parade was so colorful and beautiful, both the flowers and the horses:)

Unknown said...

Nice parade. Lovely and colourful costumes they are wearing..

EG CameraGirl said...

Beautiful celebration in which flowers play a major part. Men, women, horses and dogs all decorated!

LifeRamblings said...

what a fascinating parade. lovely costumes and pretty blooms.

Nance said...

Wow, what a very colorful parade! The last photo is my fave too... cute dog! ;)

DeniseinVA said...

Fantastic photographs Noel, so many beautiful blooms to share with us. Thank you!!! Truly, I would rather be adorned with beautiful flowers than with diamonds.

africanaussie said...

how wonderful, I enjoy all your posts, exposing us to a culture which clearly loves flowers as much as I do! The work they put into making these is evident.

Meredith said...

Wow, Noel. I'd be lined up for that parade every year; it's so classy! The women in the third and fourth photos reminded me of royalty, coming graciously into town for a festival, even their horses draped for the occasion. :) What a beautiful culture you have, and I'm so glad the Hawaiians managed to preserve it.

Al said...

Aloha! Nice displays of colorful flowers, I enjoyed the parade!

Kcalpesh said...

Beautiful people! Beautiful photos!

Pixellicious Photos

Anonymous said...

Dear Noel, Oh how wonderful these Pau Riders are, and all so different. I loved all the images but, for me, the first in those cooly elegant green and white hues was just perfect.

Anonymous said...

Hello Noel, they are all so beautiful it is hard to choose a favourite! But I do like the lady dressed and adorned with orange flowers in her hair - it is probably that in combination with her warm smile!

Kimberly said...

Noel, your photos are so amazing! It's obvious why these riders are your favorite part of the parade. Such detail, color, and beauty in every portion of the presentation! Looks like a difficult day to capture the colors, due to the rain, but you did it quite well..your talent shows! I'm glad you included the little guy, too. How sweet he is and happy to be part of the celebration! Wonderful ...I've enjoyed your posts about this week long party and cultural festival.

Rosie leavesnbloom said...

Aloha Noel! you brought a smile to my face as I scrolled down the page seeing all the beautiful riders and those incredible flower arrangements which I think you call leis. Those must take ever so long to make and it must be a real labour of love creating them. That wee dog at the end is a real cutie too. Have a great week :) Rosie

Anonymous said...

Oh so lovely flowers and I love the beautiful horses too!

Lona said...

Wow, Noel. What a beautiful display. Now I would love to see that parade too. They are all dressed to pretty and leis for the horses too. Just Beautiful! Of course the puppy needs a lei also. LOL!

islandgal246 said...

Amazing Noel just amazing! I am enjoying your blog so much that I have listed on my blog roll.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Noel - as a horse, I absolutely loved this! I would dearly love to live in Hawaii some day. Until then, I have to be satisfied with my baby Plumeria putzing along in the sunny window.

Noelle Johnson said...

Hello Noel,

Any culture that celebrates festivals and life by decorating themselves and their animals with flowers and leaves is absolutely wonderful!

Floridagirl said...

That is such a wonderful procession. I love the flowers and costumes and decorations, but I have to admit I was left a bit speechless by what appears to be Spanish moss draped across a horse and its rider!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

I've never heard about this event. How beautiful! Riders, horses, flowers - everyone and everything is fantastic!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Such beautiful leis, even the dog has one.

I was teaching my Polynesian students, and they didn't know what a lei was. They tell me in Tongan it is called ULA.

Thanks for visiting.

Helen at summerhouse said...

Aloha! Oh way too beautiful. The leis are so wonderful! I'll never forget getting one when we went to Hawaii. Just one of the many things I fell in love with there.

Andrea said...

Those are very beautiful leis, especially on the horses. Oh yes and that dog is really a super stealer of the show. The ladies are really of different ethnic origins, the first one is the most beautiful. But of course it is in the eye of the beholder, so others may choose theirs!

Gail said...

How delightful~So very different from a parade in Nashville. I like your decorated horses better! gail

My name is Riet said...

What a beautiful parade. I love your pictures of the horses with riders and my favorite is the pink and purple one and pf course the little dogggy

Ellada said...

Aloha
It is a very beautiful parade. The girl on the third photo is very gorgeous.
And the last, with the dog is so cute.

elvira pajarola said...

What GORGEOUS TRADITION!!!!!!!
....and you took FABULOUS photos of this splendour of flowers, smiling beautiful riders and their magnificient horses!!
......and certainly I adore the flower decor of the sympatic doggy!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for your kind visit in my Tuscany; I loved it!!
Have a wonderful week, Noel!
ciao ciao elvira

Johnny Nutcase said...

Pretty cool stuff! I love the horses, all so beautiful, and the leis are gorgeous too. Love the last picture of the pup!

Susan in the Pink Hat said...

Why do they wear the long robes on the horses? Royalty symbol?

wannabegardener said...

The flower garlands around each horse looks so beautiful - what a lively and fragrant event this must have been!

Carla said...

So beautiful!

Tammie Lee said...

so much beauty and happiness in your photos.

Laura said...

Wonderful festive photos Noel!

Dirty Girl Gardening said...

You always have the most interesting a beautiful pics!

Avalon's Garden and Mewsings of Garden Cottage Cats said...

WOW!!How Beautiful!! I would love to see this parade!, so colorful:)

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