This year’s 36th annual Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Cultural Festival and BioBlitz on Aug. 27 will honor the park’s centennial anniversary and connect visitors and the community to the culture, biology and geology of the park.
This year’s 36th annual Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Cultural Festival and BioBlitz on Aug. 27 will honor the park’s centennial anniversary and connect visitors and the community to the culture, biology and geology of the park.
Admission to the festival and BioBlitz is free.
Themed E Ho‘omau (to perpetuate; to continue in a way that causes good to be long-lasting), people of all ages are invited to engage in authentic Hawaiian cultural practices and learn how native Hawaiians lived closely to the land as its stewards. Enjoy hula and music, watch skilled practitioners demonstrate their art, and try Hawaiian crafts. Performers include Halau o Akaunu with Manaiakalani Kalua, Kenneth Makuakane, Kai Ho‘opi‘i, and Diana Aki, plus many more.
This year’s festival will again include a BioBlitz, a hands-on opportunity for families and individuals to observe and document the biodiversity that thrives in the lava flows and native rain forests of Kilauea volcano. In mid-July, participants will be able to sign up for any of the BioBlitz field inventories, which include “Hiding in Plain Sight: the Insects and Spiders of the Park,” a birding excursion “Feathers in the Forest,” and “Na Mea o Kanu o Ka Hula (The Plants of Hula),” on the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park website.
The field inventories are led by experts at the forefront of conservation, science and traditional Native Hawaiian culture.
The BioBlitz is from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and the cultural festival is from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
This year is the 100th anniversary for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/havo/getinvolved/100th-anniversary.htm.