Events for the annual Waimea Town Celebration start during the upcoming President’s Day weekend and continue through Feb. 27.
Admission to the events requires a Waimea Town Celebration Health Passport that is available now through Feb. 28 by visiting the Waimea Town Celebration website, waimeatowncelebration.com, and starting the registration process.
Hosted by the Historic Waimea Theater and Cultural Arts Center with support from the Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau, this year’s event features a variety of entertainment, ranging from concerts, honoring local celebrities, cultural events and a film festival.
In addition to the WTC Health Passport, several of the events require an admission that can also be purchased online at the WTC website.
Starting Feb. 19, The Saddle Room and several mixologists present Kaua‘i Cocktails and Cuisine that is open to adults 21 years and older, and features prohibition-period drinks such as a Koloa spice rum manhattan, cuisine, jazz music with Lady Ipo and a costume contest. An admission fee is required.
The Historic Waimea Theater is the setting for the King Kaumuali‘i Lu‘au Feb. 20 that features a cultural presentation of hula and mele led by kumu hula Troy Lazaro of Ka Pa Hula o Hinano that centers on honoring Kaua‘i’s monarch. The event includes a lu‘au dinner. An admission fee is required.
Asian Pacific films that include an encore of successful films from the 45th Annual Hawai‘i International Film Festival can be found on the Waimea Theater website for the Waimea Film Festival that takes up Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are available at the theater’s box office, and a special all-day pass is available by reservation through the WTC website.
Free events move to Hofgaard Park on Feb. 22, 23 and 24, with the special Music in the Park presentations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., where the lunchtime crowd can enjoy live music with Kaua‘i musicians and enter the special eating contests like the Spam musubi eating contest on Tuesday, the Redondo’s hot dog eating contest on Wednesday, and the Kaua‘i Kim Chee eating contest on Thursday. There are cash awards for contest winners.
Basilio “Bunga” Fuertes just celebrated his 80th birthday recently, and will be honored as the Ambassador of Aloha at a music concert on Feb. 23 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Historic Waimea Theater.
Fuertes will be presented with the Ambassador of Aloha Malama Award for his contributions to the island community. He will also be joined by Na Hoku Award-winning musician Kainani Kahaunaele for a Hawaiian-music concert. Special admission tickets are available through the WTC website.
Moses Goods, a kanaka maoli storyteller, will take the Historic Waimea Theater stage Feb. 24 for his production of “Huaka‘i o na Holoholona.” Desserts shared during this presentation will be inspired by these legends, and are included with the admission tickets available through the WTC website.
The eight-day extravaganza wraps up with the Heritage of Aloha Ho‘olaule‘a Feb. 25 and 26, starting at 5 p.m. each night, at the old Waimea mill site off Kaumuali‘i Highway.
This event will be gated, and the WTC Health Passport is required for entry into the area, where local food and craft vendors will set up along with the Paradise Beverage/Koloa Rum beer garden, and umbrellaed by more than 20 hours of programmed music, including Kou Manao, Napua Greig, Kaua‘i Kollab, Ekolu, Joe Kaneholani, Russell Wellington, Rumba De Fuego, Hammer House/Damon Williams, High Watah/Kealamauloa and Maoli.
• Info: waimeatowncelebration.com
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
