WAILUA — Intermittent showers followed a sudden morning deluge to set the stage for the investiture ceremonies that were held Saturday morning at the Kamokila Hawaiian Village in Wailua. The ceremonies mark the start of the Kaua‘i Aloha Festivals series
WAILUA — Intermittent showers followed a sudden morning deluge to set the stage for the investiture ceremonies that were held Saturday morning at the Kamokila Hawaiian Village in Wailua.
The ceremonies mark the start of the Kaua‘i Aloha Festivals series of events and serves as the inauguration of this year’s royal court, which is headed by King Whitney Kahanuoka‘aina Smith and Queen Wanda Kaonohi Aki.
Wallis Punua, the Kaua‘i Aloha Festivals coordinator and island manager, was busy tying up loose ends, but stopped briefly to explain to visitors arriving for the protocol ceremony that the rains serve as part of the blessing for the event.
Despite the wet weather, which a couple from North Carolina did not mind in the slightest, the procession started with the arrival of the mo‘i (king) candidate on an outrigger canoe with his kalaimoku (counselor), who earlier in the morning was trying to keep the younger attendants in line.
The pair was met on shore by the mo‘i wahine candidate, Aki, the chanters, kahili and spear bearers, and the hula halau that paraded through the grassy meadow before settling at the village’s hula platform, where the mo‘i and mo‘i wahine received their respective badges of office.
A special yellow cape and helmet were bestowed upon Smith, while Aki’s grandchildren, who served as her ladies in waiting, wrapped her in special tapa with a yellow feather necklace and head lei.
Considered the “heart of Aloha Festivals,” the royal court brings a solemn and majestic presence to the events, and the festivities followed as the hula halau promptly offered up their hula tribute as sprinkles resumed. Punua, in hosting the event, explained that the Aloha Festivals (formerly known as Aloha Week) was designed to get visitors and residents to know each other better and, as a prelude, discovered that the audience consisted of visitors from Florida, Atlanta, Texas, Oregon, and California, the majority coming from San Diego, all braving the showers to witness the protocol event.
As the halau continued with their hula presentations, visitors could pick up their souvenir Aloha Festivals ribbons, which were on sale along with a special lunch that followed the entertainment. Supporters of the Aloha Festivals can obtain ribbons from 7-Eleven stores, Bank of Hawai‘i branches, Crazy Shirts stores, Hilo Hattie (the official Festivals outfitters), Safeway, Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa, Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club, the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau and Punua Insurance Agency offices on Rice Street in Lihu‘e, and the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort. On the calendar of Kaua‘i events will be the Kaua‘i Ho‘olaule‘a scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11 at Kukui Grove Center.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.