FESTIVAL
STAR-BULLETIN / 2005
There will be lots of Okinawan dance and music at the bandstand during the 26th Annual Okinawan Festival this weekend at Kapiolani park.
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Haisai!
The 26th Okinawan Festival comes to Kapiolani Park
Andagi is something we all understand: the Okinawan doughnut, all round and brown, sweet and just greasy enough.
26TH OKINAWAN FESTIVAL
Place: Kapiolani Park
Dates: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Admission: Free
Parking: Free at Kapiolani Community College; round-trip shuttle is $1
Call: 676-5400 or visit www.okinawanfestival.com
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But now comes the time to learn a bit more about Okinawan culture. Minyou, for example (folk music) or shima-uta (island music). Best place to do so is under the sun at the annual Okinawan Festival, "Sharing Uchinanchu Aloha," this weekend in Kapiolani Park.
Uchinanchu -- there's another one. It means Okinawan, and at festival time, it's a state of mind more than an ethnic identity, as the theme indicates.
When you hit the park, expect to find the usual festival foods, from traditional Okinawan soba and pig's feet soup, to the fantastical Okidog and Andadog. The Heiwa Dori will offer specialty Okinawan foods to take home.
A kids' area will feature games and air-filled jumpers; a Cultural Tent will offer bits of Okinawan history.
At the Kapiolani Park Bandstand, there'll be continuous entertainment by groups both from Hawaii and the motherland, presenting taiko, Okinawan dance, sanshin, koto, group karate and more.
The highlights:
» Okinawan singer Mamoru Miyagi makes his third appearance at the festival; 2:40 p.m. Saturday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday.
» Tatsuya Shimabukuro, Radio Okinawa's 2008 Grand Prix Miuta Taisho winner, performs folk music with Tsuneyoshi Naka & the Tokonatsu Band; noon Saturday.
» Musician and dancer Tatsuya Yasuda performs with local dance studio Sosaku Taiko Ryukyu Yuihana, presenting music and dance from the many islands of Okinawa; 10:10 a.m. Sunday.
» The traditional bon dance, one of the largest in the state, runs 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday.