the 27th okinawan festival

Okinawa is a small island southwest of mainland Japan. What was once an independent kingdom, it is still rich with its own history and culture. After damage and ruin of WWII to the Okinawans, The Battle of Okinawa, Hawaii became a bridge and aided with its efforts to help re-build the Okinawan community here in Hawaii, providing support and relief.

In the beginning there were 26 Okinawan immigrants who arrived in Hawaii. Today there are now more than 50,000 who stand strong, generation after generation, to celebrate and preserve their legacy.

The 27th Okinawan Festival is among Hawaii's largest celebrated festival with the best Okinawan entertainment, food, cultural exhibits and activities.

I loved trying the different types of Okinawan food and had to come back the second day for more tastings of "andagi", an Okinawan round donut that is made like cake batter and deep fried. Yum! The "andada dog" was killer too. A hotdog on a stick, dipped in andagi batter and deep fried. It is similar to a corn dog, but has a lovely sweet taste. The "okinawan soba" was great too, even on a hot day, like today. Usually soba is made from buckwheat and served cold, but this Okinawan soba noodle was a thick noodle and served hot with slices of shoyu pork, fishcake, ginger and green onions. There was "maki sushi", toppings that are placed on rice and rolled in seaweed and sliced, ready to eat. And the "champuru plate" was a generous portion of stir fried vegetables, along with shoyu pork, rice. Even though there was much more food to try and my stomach was more than full, I had to have a shave ice, sit at the bandstand and watch some of the Okinawan entertainment.

After the entertainment I walked around to some of the tents to get some okinawan cultural~arts and crafts, specialty food items from Okinawa, the exhibit on the Battle of Okinawa, the country store full of fresh produce, a karate display and the bonsai exhibit. The first day's fun ended with the Okinawan Bon Dance and a greater knowledge of the Okinawan culture.

27th annual slack key guitar festival

After my visit with ELVIS, I hurried over to the "27th Annual (Maui-Oahu-Hawaii-Kauai) Ki Ho' Alu Festival". Otherwise known as the "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival". "Ki ho'alu" means "loosen the keys".

What is "slack key" guitar and how is it different from the "ukulele"?

Well, Hawaiian slack key is a genre of music with a bass line, whereas, the ukulele is tuned higher and there are less strings than the guitar, thus making the sound different. Slack key is when the strings of the guitar are slacked or loosened and the style to which the fingers pick the strings and how the fingers slide on the strings, the sound is a lingering bluesy effect. Think Doc Watson or Jimmy Page. It's a beautifully sweet mesmerizing sound.

Listen to samples    http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Slack-Key-Guitar Masters/dp/B0000030MF/ref=pd_krex_fa_t

The origin of the slack key is said to be in the early 1900's. It may be that the guitars were most likely introduced to Hawaii by the European sailors and that guitars were also brought to Hawaii by Spanish cowboys hired by King Kamehameha III to herd the cattle on Hawaii Island.

At night, the Spanish cowboys would play their guitars and this would intrigue the Hawaiian cowboys, called "paniolos". When the Spanish left Hawaii some of them left their guitars. The Hawaiians would later create their own blend of traditional music~hawaiian slack key.

A musician at this years Slack Key Festival that really impressed me was Makana. He is an unbelievable talent with great showmanship and fervor. He began studying at the age of 11 and started playing professionally at age 13. His own musical blend of traditional Hawaiian Slack Key, that of which is pure Makana, is marking a journey onto his own. His followers are young and old, locals and mainlanders. At 31, Makana has played the best stages worldwide, has opened for renowned performers and has released 6 CD's to date.

Masters of the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar include Ray Kane, Keola Beamer, Sonny Chillingworth, Dennis Kamakahi, Ledward Ka'apana and Gabby Pahinui.