NUKOLII — Armed with dual themes of “Music Heals” and “Hawaiian Music Traditions,” the Garden Island Arts Council presents E Kanikapila Kakou 2025 (EKK), with a series of weekly concerts, or musical presentations starting Feb. 3 and continuing through the month of March at the Outrigger Kauai Beach Resort in Nukolii.
The GIAC presents EKK as a community enrichment program made possible with funding support from the Hawaii Tourism Authority with support services from Kilohana at the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.
When doors to the first musical presentation, “Golden Na Leo: Makana Sings Hawaii’s Songs of Romance from the ‘50s and ‘60s,” open, this will celebrate 42 years of bringing to Kauai audiences — kamaaina and malihini alike — the very best of Hawaiian music and culture.
The musical presentations take place on Monday nights from 6 to 8:30 p.m. with the doors to the ballroom opening at 5 p.m. Food and refreshments are available for purchase, and it is commonplace to have vendors like the Boroboro Boutique available.
Advance event tickets are available online at www.EKK2025.eventbrite.com.
EKK patrons are invited to support the 8-week progrtam with their early donations by contributing a minimum of $250 by clicking the “Donation” button at the GIAC website, www.gardenislandarts.com, mailing checks made out to GIAC to P.O.Boc 827, Lihue, HI 96766, or by signing up as an “EKK Patron” at the door.
Patrons get priority seating to the ballroom, and early donations help to start the season.
Parking options at the Outrigger Kauai Beach Resort include valet parking at the resort’s porte-cochere; free event parking in the unpaved area beyond the covered parking stalls; or enter the first gated areas on the right side, closer to the ballroom entrance. Press a button to make the gate open, collect a ticket issued by the machine, and get it validated just inside the ballroom door to receive a special validation for a $10 total parking fee. Use the ticket to exit the gate, paying the balance due at a kiosk machine near the restrooms, or at the gate with a credit card.
EKK opens the 2025 season with a “nostalgic and scintillating musical flashback to an earlier time in Hawaii featuring celebrated entertainer, singer and slack key virtuoso Makana.
“The atmosphere of mid-century Waikiki inspires this tribute to a time and place that remains indelibly tattooed on the hearts and minds of people worldwide, never again to be experienced,” said Carol Yotsuda of the GIAC. “Join us for an evening of ‘Golden Era’ sounds as Makana takes us back in time to the heyday of Hawaii’s legendary crooners, remembering icons like Alfred Apaka, Don Ho, Sonny Chillingworth, Kui Lee, The Kalima Brothers, and more.”
Following the Makana season opener, Feb. 10 will feature “The Music Within” with the Kapaa Middle School Choir and Ukulele Band under the direction of Mary Lardizabal; Feb. 17 will be “Jammin’ with the Masters” featuring Ledward Kaapana, Jeff Peterson, Bobby Ingano and David Kamakahi; Feb. 24 will be The Amazing Charlotte Apo with the Mokihana Seranaders with Paul Ventura, Pancho Graham, Norman Kaawa Solomon, Kilipaki Vaughn, plus the “Hot Kupuna Strut Their Stuff.”
A full schedule of the eight weeks of performances can be found on the GIAC website at www.gardenislandarts.com.
