King’s Parade is Saturday

Mauna Kea Kaukaohu Trask, a fourth-generation native Hawaiian attorney and the county attorney, will portray King Kamehameha when The King’s Parade and Celebration unwinds on Ho‘olako Street starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“I had to talk him into it,” said Nalani Brun of the county’s Office of Economic Development. “He was shy about it, but he has the credentials of being an excellent king.”

Trask is a kanaka oiwi from the Ko‘olau district of Kauai, descended from Kaukaohu and Kaonali‘i. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Arthur Kaukohu Trask Jr., grandfather Arthur Kaukaohu Trask Sr., and great grandfather David Kaukaohu Trask, graduating from Kamehameha Schools, Oregon State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law in 2004 with a juris doctorate.

He was raised by his grandfather to understand that Native Hawaiians are an aristocratic and educated people whose power comes from knowledge of their lands and the world around them, states a release.

There is no admission to enjoy the parade and ho‘olaulea, which celebrates Ho‘okahi ka ‘ilau like ana, or “Wield the paddles together honoring Kauai’s Ocean Voyagers.”

The floral parade will feature the king’s float as well as pa‘u island horse units, floats, walking and riding units, and more.

Special traffic advisories will be in effect during the parade, which will make its way on Ho‘olako Street and Rice Street before ending at the Historic County Building.

The ho‘olaule‘a which follows will feature the ali‘i protocol before an audience of food booths, crafts, and Hawaiian cultural demonstrations. A day of Hawaiian entertainment follow.

Kamala Mersberg serves as the pa‘u queen for this year’s King’s Parade and Celebration, and Kealoha Saffery will sit as the pa‘u marshall.

Franklin Manoiki Contrades Jr., born in Kapaa Flats, known today as Waipouli, will serve as grand marshal.