Canoe makers will gather on Maui
for a festival celebrating the
survival of old-time traditions.

Hokule‘a joins
Maui festival of
voyaging canoes

There is one more special event for the Hokule'a after the statewide tour is over. The canoe will leave the Hawaii Maritime Center for Maui later this month to help with Lahaina's annual festival, "In Celebration of Canoes."

The event begins on May 13. The Hokule'a will be berthed in Lahaina Harbor, Slip 99, with an open house slated 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following weekend, May 26 and 27.

The annual festival honors the voyaging heritage of Hawaii and Polynesia, and features cultural authorities and carvers from here and Pacific Island nations demonstrating their canoe-building techniques and traditions.

Master carvers from the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga and Hawaii will be on hand to carve traditional canoes out of solid logs, using both old-style hand adzes and modern power tools. Each carver plans to create a canoe in a style unique to his heritage.

The canoe building will continue from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily throughout the festival, at the Lahaina Banyan Tree and Kamehameha Iki Park.

The launching of the newly carved canoes will close the festival on May 27, followed by a hoolaulea until 10 p.m. on Front Street.

For more information, call (808) 667-9194 or see the Web site www.visitlahaina.com.

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