A very important goal of the Honolulu Festival is to share the rich and vibrant blend of Asia, Pacific and Hawaiian cultures with the young people of Hawaii. Each year Hawaii students from elementary to high school are invited to an exclusive behind-the-scene tour of exhibits brought to Honolulu from various countries of the Pacific for the Festival. This is a wonderful opportunity for the young people of Hawaii to get a close-up look at the displays as well as interact with the Festival artisans and performers.
It is also a great opportunity for the participating groups to share their culture and traditions with the children of Hawaii. This year’s Educational Tour was conducted on March 14th, Friday, at the Hawaii Convention Center. Those who came included 71 first graders from Wilson Elementary School, 7 students from Goodwill, 51 students from Lutheran High School and 27 students from St. Anne’s Model School along with their chaperones and teachers. These students were able to see, hear and touch the various displays and Pacific Rim cultures that represented the 14th Annual Honolulu Festival.  What a great opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time.

The participants included Japan’s Suginami Karuta Kai and Eco Cloth Zouri Circle, Australia’s Descendance, Taiwan’s Nantou County Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, Honolulu Daijayama , Philippine’s CSU Pannadamman Dance Troupe and members of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. The students were able to experience the dances and cultures of many Pacific Rim countries.

Suginami Karuta Kai is a group that preserves the Japanese cultural tradition of reading "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu" (100 poems by 100 poets) through the game of "karuta" (playing cards). One person reads the first part of the poem and it is up to the others to find the other half on the many cards that are placed on the floor. In order to make it easier for the students to play this game, members translated the cards to English. This game may have been a bit difficult for the students however they did their best to find the pairing card. Members of the Karuta Association enjoyed watching the intensity of their attempts to pick the right cards. No matter where we are from, we are all the same when it comes to playing games and trying to win.

Eco Cloth Zouri Circle is a group from Tokyo that makes slippers by using shredded pieces of old T-shirts.  This fascinated the teachers more than the students.  The teachers were focused on learning to make the slippers and asked many questions, perhaps to share with their students in the future. Some of the students were so eager to weave it tightly that it made the slipper too narrow and were jokingly reprimanded by the instructors from Japan.  Hawaii folks wear slippers all the time.  The familiarity of zouri made the students and teachers want to learn more about this craft.

The Descendance from Australia performed right in front of the children.  Their unique movements to the sound of the didgeridoo mesmerized the students. They enjoyed dancing like the kangaroo with the dancers, having their faces painted with the traditional aboriginal paint and attempting to play the didgeridoo.  What an amazing experience for them.
And then there was interaction with the Nantou County Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village dancers.  They taught the students a game played with a spear and  wicker ball. The students, teachers and chaperones all were shown a Formosan dance and as they held hands you could tell that even the adults were having a great time being kids.

The CSU Pannadamman Dance Troupe from the Philippines showed the children how to dance with the bamboo sticks.  It took a lot of coordination and it seemed that there was a huge sigh of relief when the students were able to complete the dance without getting their feet stuck between the bamboos.The students also learned about mikoshi and about a traditional Japanese Matsuri (festival).  After making their own hachimaki (headbands) they had the chance to carry a mikoshi and shout “Wasshoi! Wasshoi!”  

This was the first time for many of students to experience these cultures. Many of them were thrilled and excited to be able to see and touch the displays. We asked one of the teachers from St. Anne’s Model School why they decided to participate in Honolulu Festival’s Educational Tour for the first time and she replied, “This year we are fortunate to have a student from Nigeria at our school. The  local students are able to learn so much about Nigeria’s culture from our foreign student and I thought that we could further expand our knowledge of other cultures by participating in this program. I am so glad that we were invited.”

The Honolulu Festival will continue to invite Hawaii’s students each year.  The Foundation hopes that participation and support will grow within the school community.  See you next year.