LIHUE — Visiting Hawaii should be an experience tourists never forget. And to enhance that, the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club is hosting an event that brings out the real spirit of the islands. The Art of Craft, Hula
LIHUE — Visiting Hawaii should be an experience tourists never forget. And to enhance that, the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club is hosting an event that brings out the real spirit of the islands.
The Art of Craft, Hula and Song will take place Thursday in the Kauai Ballroom at the resort. With hula lessons, craft-making and music, the event is designed to give visitors a glimpse of local traditions.
“I believe that a lot of people who visit Kauai actually don’t get the opportunity to see many of these types of events,” said Sherri Holcomb, Kauai Beach Club resort manager. “And we figured that craft, hula and songs are the three areas that they would really benefit from as an experience.”
LaVerne Silva, who will have a craft booth set up at the event, has been working with Holcomb on these events to help bring her craft to the attention of visitors.
“I have been doing these events for three years now,” said Silva. “I do handcrafted necklaces, and my grandson, who has been a photographer since he was 9, has his notecards that are made up of pictures of koi.”
Her grandson used to feed koi all the time, and take pictures of them, but when he turned 11, he saw an opportunity.
“He told me he wanted to make some money, so we helped him make cards,” Silva said. “It’s between he and I, my necklaces and his notecards.”
Silva has taught crafting for a number of years at these events, and participants understand the need to be patient and attentive.
“Sometimes, a craft is not easy to be taught on the spot,” she said. “If they ask me how it’s done, I crochet the necklaces. That’s all I can explain, is that I crochet them.”
Holcomb said there are enough crafters to fill up the courtyard area, along with cultural classes that will be taught on a first-come, first-served basis.
While there is usually a Christmas in July charity craft fair, Holcomb decided that it would be a better idea to combine the events.
“We felt that it would be really nice to combine everything together this year and have a lot going on,” she said. “We support charities throughout Kauai and all of the proceeds from this craft fair are going towards Children’s Miracle Network. It’s really big not only for the community, but for the entrepreneurs who do well at these craft fairs, and for the visitors who wouldn’t usually have something like this available for them.”
There will also be a special performance from the award-winning Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala.
Cultural classes begin at 1:15 p.m. and continue until 8 p.m., the charity craft fair is 2 to 8 p.m., Puuwai performs at 5:30 p.m., and Halau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leina‘ala takes the stage at 6:30 p.m.
