HANALEI — How are fish related to kalo? That question was answered Sunday at the Waipa Kalo Festival. Taro varieties are named after fish, and the moi variety which was being used for the poi pounding demonstrations at the Halulu
HANALEI — How are fish related to kalo?
That question was answered Sunday at the Waipa Kalo Festival.
Taro varieties are named after fish, and the moi variety which was being used for the poi pounding demonstrations at the Halulu Fishpond in Hanalei were gray in color, said Bryna Storch, a taro grower.
A continuous stream of people flowed through the gates of the fishpond which is located across Kuhio Highway from the Waipa facility to enjoy the celebration of kalo. Offerings included a biggest kalo contest, a kalo recipe contest, art contests and a variety of hands-on activities involving the Hawaiian culture and environmental areas such as understanding the ahupuaa, or watershed areas.
Jean Souza of the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was helping at the Hanalei Watershed station, joining Meryl Abrams in registering students for the Ahupuaa Explorations program which starts in January.
“She thinks this is Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Anna Marrinan of New York as she helped her daughter Anna with the gyotaku, or fish printing, being offered at the Ahupuaa Explorations table.
Takeshi Toma of Kaneohe, Oahu, has been coming to volunteer at the annual event benefiting the Waipa Foundation, taking his lunch to enjoy with Charlie Perreira, carrying on a nice banter with people stopping to find out more about fishnet making.
“I’ve been coming here for a long time,” Toma said. “These are good people because they perpetuate the right way of eating food.”
Neveah Santiago was offering a variety of food, including a taro butter mochi, for her mother Chelsea Cox, and Cynthia Chiang said Nalani Kaneakua, scheduled to board the Hokulea in February, was offering the best poi balls.
“I was really busy from last week,” said Les Gushiken of Kilauea. “We were cooking up stuff for this Kalo Festival. We have taro rolls, and a new taro cinnamon bread which they’re selling in the Country Store. They’re supposed to have it in other areas as well.”
Kiare Gomez, a third-grader from the Hanalei Elementary School, rendered a photo of a man’s hand holding a big kalo near the Hanalei Poi Factory to earn third place in the Kalo Art Contest in the Loi Kalo Landscape division.
“It was pretty hard to do,” Gomez said. “It took me two days to complete this.”
Kea Eu-Parziale, a first-grade student at the Kanuikapono Public Charter School, topped the division.
“This is a big kalo making little kalo plants near the mountains with a waterfall,” said Eu-Parziale. “It was kind of hard to do, but I finished it in one day.”
The chatter took place under a blanket of music and hula. Gordon Yee was seeking out the ukulele group from Oakland, California.
“They’re from the Academy of Hawaiian Arts near my hometown,” Chiang said. “They have a kumu who always performs at the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival.”
Yolie Yee said Gordon and Debbie Uchida, a member of the Ahamele ukulele ensemble, are classmates so they came to watch the performance of the group which included 11 members under the direction of Kainani Hartnett.
