Photos by Chris McDonough
MAHALO FOR JOINING US!
We hope you were able to join us for our 10th Annual Manu O Kū Festival! What a celebration it was. We had beautiful weather downtown on the coronation lawn of ‘Iolani Palace as we celebrated this important milestone with over 400 attendees throughout the day.
Want to commemorate this year’s festival?
Get your 10th Anniversary Manu o Kū Festival T-shirt here!
Here are some highlights from the day:
- Keahi Renaud performed an inspiring opening ‘oli to begin our festivities
- 16 organization and agency booths provided family friendly crafts, activities, and information about native environmental and conservation efforts
- bird scopes and bird walks were set up to view the nesting Manu O Kū on ‘Iolani Palace grounds
- kids nature-themed costume contest – congrats to our winner, Lily, dressed as a Manu o Kū, and our other contestants for their creative and innovative costumes!!
- photo ops and parade of our costume characters, Hina the monk seal, Aloha Kea the Manu O Kū, Kōlea Nui the kōlea, Pono the nene, and Kaleo the pueo
- educational and informative talks by Darienne Dey (Polynesian Voyaging Society), Dita Holifield (Director, Department of Enterprise Services for the City & County of Honolulu and the office of Mayor Blangiardi), and Charlotte Bender and James Lee (KCC student researchers).
- beautiful musical entertainment by the Royal Hawaiian Band and ukulele duo Corey Fujimoto and Kalei Gamiao
- Hula performance by Kumu Hula James Dela Cruz and Nā ‘Ōpio a me Nā Kupuna O Ko‘olau
- emcee Bryan Min
- instructional painting sessions with Patrick Ching
- children’s book readings about the Manu o Kū by authors, Ania Driscoll-Lind and Cat Peterson, in the Keiki Reading Corner
- variety of artwork displayed featuring the Manu o Kū in our Art Display tent
We were surprised by our Honolulu City Council member, Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, with a special certificate to honor the 10th anniversary of our Manu o Kū Festival. Special thanks to our festival sponsors, planning partners, participating groups, volunteers, and our guests for making this year’s festival a true celebration 10 years in the making! Until next year…
