It’s a labor of love that takes hours upon hours of preparation. In the end, it’s a visual feast that ends too quickly.
Adorned in painstakingly created lei, yards of heavy satin and velvet and mounted on fine steeds, the pa‘u riders trotted down Alii Drive on Saturday, the centerpiece of the King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade. Families lugging coolers and keiki converged on Kailua Village for the annual event, lining sidewalks and hunting shade as smiling princesses pranced and swirled past.
“It locks the heat in, a sauna effect,” said Keliikanoe Mahi, who represented Molokai.
Mahi was one of the princesses and their attendants who dismounted on Kaiwi Street, gratefully shed their pa‘u and grabbed bottles of water an hour and a half after the parade started at the Royal Kona Resort.
A hot tradition, but one well worth carrying on, said riders who represented the eight islands and their colors. The pa‘u riders, who have graced floral parades since the early 1900s, brought offerings, or hookupu, to Hulihee Palace on Alii Drive.
“Children learn the culture and history of Hawaii by attending these parades,” said announcer Fanny Au Hoy, who poked gentle fun at the entrants, complimented their garb and gave spectators pieces of history and Hawaiian legend.
The riders were interspersed with more than 30 other entrants, including Grand Marshall Lily Haanuo Kong in a horse-drawn carriage, the Daughters of Hawaii and the Calabash Cousins, complete with white parasols and dresses and kukui nut lei.
“It brings the community together. A parade is always fun,” spectator Mindy Boli said. “The kids always love the candy.”
Jeff Rauwerdink, who described himself as a sporadic visitor to the island from the mainland, took in the spectacle with a broad smile as the riders passed Kailua Pier.
“It’s really neat; it’s amazing to see all the colorful costumes and the flavor of the Hawaiian Islands,” Rauwerdink said. “There’s no other place close to it on earth.”
The celebration included a hoolaulea at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel after the parade, with a Hawaiian music and arts festival, Tahitian dancing, poi pounding and historic photo displays.