PUHI — Described as a celebration of all things chocolate and coffee, the 9th Kauai Chocolate &Coffee festival hosted hundreds of people at the Kilohana Luau Pavilion on Sunday.
“There were two tour busses that just unloaded a bunch of people,” said Sumikos’, a vendor set up near the event entrance.
Inside the luau pavilion, Rae Hiramoto of Kilohana said the organizers had presold nearly 500 passports, and with the additional walk-ins on Sunday, she anticipated about 800 or more people mingling through the sea of “passport vendors” or establishments offering chocolate and coffee samplings, a large variety of local craft vendors and continuous live entertainment.
Taiko Kauai got the juices flowing early Sunday morning, and once rolling, the crowd had its edges smoothed by kihoalu artist Paul Togioka. Aldrine and Aaron, both frequent acts at the Downtown Lihue Night Market, added the ukulele flavoring with Roddy Lopez and his guitar styling.
“Everyone’s paying for those samples from kololeka collective,” said citizen volunteer Greg Askew, who was helping at the silent auction. “Kololeka collective is supplying the material that is used in the ‘Chocolate’s Origins: Experience the Magic of Cacao’ with Kate Colibri. In addition to the passport, you need a separate ticket to listen to the workshop.”
Outside the pavilion, a variety of food vendors and food trucks accommodated the passport-toting chocolate overloading taking place inside.
“We have a lot of chocolate things like the dark chocolate lava cakes, double fudge macadamia nut brownie and chocolate croissants,” said Chef Judy Capertina of Haole Girl Island Sweets. “I suggest getting yours, early because there’s no guarantee they’ll be available when you come out.”
The Kauai Chocolate &Coffee Festival was presented by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority through the Community Enrichment Program, the Hawaii Chocolate &Cacao Association and Special Events Hawaii, which recently presented the Ukulele Festival at Kukui Grove Center.
The mission of the Kauai Chocolate &Coffee Festival is to offer an event that entertains both visitors and residents of Kauai, highlights Hawaii agricultural industries of both cacao and coffee, and showcases the products and talents of the island’s local farmers, chefs, roasters, chocolatiers, baristas and manufacturers.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
