TRAVEL
This is the fourth part of my ‘Aloha Series.’ This series features my eightday vacation to Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States of America (USA) in April this year. In this part I write about the traditional Hawaiian luau.
What is a luau?
IT was our third day in Hawaii on Saturday, April 18, 2026. My partner Mulberry, my cousin James and I had completed the Manoa Falls hike in the morning. For the evening itinerary, we had a traditional Hawaiian feast called a ‘luau’ at the International Market Place along Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu.
Before I continue, I will provide a brief history about the origins of the luau.
Kapu system
According to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, before the early 19th century, there were religious restrictions and laws put in place in Hawaii by the kapu system, which restricted certain actions in society. “Kapu” means “forbidden” or “set aside as sacred.”
The kapu system governed what was forbidden. The system stated who could eat meals together and restricted the consumption of certain foods to men and chiefs only. The laws forbade women of all classes from eating meals with males and from eating certain Hawaiian delicacies including reef fish, pork, and bananas. Only the chiefs, known as “alii” were permitted to partake in eating the foods which were considered sacred because they represented strength and other desirable attributes. These restrictions affected everyday practices as well as celebrations and feasts.
Aha’aina celebrations
An ahaaina in ancient Hawaii was a gathering to eat a meal and celebrate together. These celebrations were focused on traditions and ceremonies. Traditionally, an ahaaina was used to celebrate special occasions, such as honoring gods or celebrating a battle victory, a new life, a plentiful harvest, or a major life event. Ahaaina have been an important part of Hawaiian and Polynesian culture.
End of the Kapu system
In 1819, Hawaiian King Kamehameha II ended the religious laws within the kapu system. This allowed men and women to eat together in all occasions and removed food restrictions.
To commemorate the end of the religious separation laws, King Kamehameha II threw a large ahaaina celebration. This gave way to a new type of feast and celebration where all could come together to honor and celebrate.
Transition of the word luau
In the Hawaiian language, luau is pronounced “lou” as in Louis and “ow.”
The word “luau” translates to “young taro tops.” This word was used in reference to a food dish, usually chicken or squid baked in coconut milk and taro. Luau is a traditional Hawaiian food which was served at an ahaaina, or feast.
Around the 1850s, the word luau came to represent the feast where the food – taro tops – was served. Over time, and influenced by advertisers, the word began to represent a gathering meal of food, music, and dancing. It is now used to represent a similar event as the traditional ahaaina feast in Hawaiian history with less focus on tradition and ceremony and more on celebration.
Today most modern Hawaii luaus include traditional Hawaiian foods, hula dancers, and fire dancers. Traditional Hawaiian luau food includes huli huli chicken, kalua pork, macaroni salad, white rice, poi, shrimp, and sweet breads.
My luau experience
There are lots of different luau activities in Hawaii. But I chose the luau at the International Market Place because it was cheaper and about 30minute walk from the apartment.
James dropped us off along the bustling Kalakaua Avenue just outside the International Market place around 4.45pm. It was a Saturday and the street was buzzing with people ready to have a good time. There was a Honolulu police car with its police lights blinking at the pedestrian crossing. The police were monitoring a street preacher who was armed with a loud hailer.
Mulberry and I crossed the road and entered the ground floor of the International Market Place. We found the luau venue easily because a black partisan covered the main arena and there was the Hawaiian music.
There was already a queue so we stood in line for about five minutes. We had already paid the entry fee online US$129 (about K560) per person. The entry fee included the traditional Hawaiian meal and a free soft drink or a cup of Hawaiian cocktail called a ‘Mai Tai’ – a cocktail made of rum, Curaçao liqueur (traditionally made from a distilled base spirit), orgeat syrup (a sweet, cloudy cocktail mixer made primarily from almonds, sugar, and water), and lime juice.
A young Hawaiian woman greeted us at the entrance. She had afro hair which reminded me of the young girl in Hollywood animation blockbuster ‘Moana.’ She welcomed us with the usual ‘Aloha’ and placed a traditional necklace called a ‘Shell Lei’ over our necks.
Leis are usually crafted from various natural materials such as shells, feathers, and seeds. The leis we received were made from shells. A lei is a symbol of love, unity, and the Aloha spirit. We quickly found our seats at the back of the venue.
Our table was seated next to a pond which had the sign ‘Aloha’ that glowed at night. Almost everyone was dressed in their bright Hawaiian colours. I wore a white shirt which had the Bird of Paradise design while Mulberry wore a white and blue floral dress.
There were six other Americans who were seated on the farm styled table with us. Four were women from Iowa who were on a girls’ trip. The others were a couple on vacation (the woman was also from Iowa and the guy was in the American Air Force). We were served four slices of sweet pineapple as an entrée.
Dinner was served in a buffet-style. The food included, teri chicken boneless, Kalua pig (a whole pig roasted in an underground pit oven, known as an imu), stir fry noodles, steamed white rice, macaroni salad, Hawaiian sweet bread, pineapple and Mac Nut Brownies.
I enjoyed the boneless chicken, pork and the macaroni. I looked over to see if Mulberry would leave some left overs for me to devour but she finished her food as well.
The show started with the Hawaiian Hula and traditional Hawaiian drums. The dances depicted the journey of their ancestors from other Pacific islanders to Hawaii.
As previously started in my earlier article, it is believed that the Hawaiian Islands were settled in two main waves. According to the Hawaii’s Polynesian Cultural Center, explorers from the Marquesas Islands first arrived in Hawaii in 300 AD. The second group of Polynesians came from Tahiti in 1200 AD. There are also oral traditions of Hawaii being an origin of some of the early Maori emigrants to Aotearoa (New Zealand).
The two and half hour cultural performance started with the dancers depicting how they travelled by sea from Aotearoa to Hawaii. Then the men and women performed an array of hula performances which was dubbed the Polynesian show.
My highlight of the night was the fire dance. Hawaii’s very on fireman had the physic of American actor Jason Momoa, minus Momoa’s athleticism. He combined acrobatics and wielded the fire staff – accompanied by the Polynesian drumbeats.
He spun and tossed the fire staff with speed and precision. The lightning-fast two-handed spins that created a ring of fire brought a rousing response from the crowd. He spun the fire staff over his head, behind his back, and under his legs. He did this shirtless while wearing a traditional Polynesian lava-lava (a wrapped cloth or laplap). I was surprised that laplap did not fall off with some of those acrobatic moves he made. His performance also honoured the ancestral warriors of the Hawaiian people.
My verdict on the luau
The luau is similar to a singsing, or a feast in Papua New Guinea. In Hawaii, the luau is highly commercialised because of the tourism. Personally, it was good to mingle with the locals, to learn and experience a bit of their culture.
Hawaiian’s are Pacific islanders and we share many similarities. But, colonialism and Hawaii’s strategic location in the Pacific Ocean, gradually led to Hawaii being an American State.
Next week’s edition: North Shore beach
