Post #178050 by tikiwinebear on Mon, Aug 8, 2005 9:09 AM

Wow! What a wonderful event! We attended the Aloha Festival on Saturday, Aug 6, along with about 200,000 other people. Driving in from the North Bay, we arrived around 12 noon, to find most of the parking lots already full and long lines of cars waiting. Missing a turn for the overflow parking area, we ended up in the WMCA parking lot without an attendant and lots of parking. Thank the tiki gods!

Upon entering the grounds, we stopped to listen to the chanting and watched the dancers on stage, and marveled at the number of people there for the event. As we got to the main green there were thousands more people sitting on their blankets or in chairs enjoying themselves... eating, listening to the music, eating, chatting with others, showing off their new purchases from the vendors surrounding the grassy area, and eating. There were vendors from all over selling their wares... leis fresh from Hawai'i, rolls of Hawaiian print fabrics, plants, jewelry, Hawaiian trinkets of all kinds, and some tikis. Of those selling mugs, salt & pepper shakers, carvings, etc, none of the vendors were on Tiki Central, though they all said they had heard of us. I purchased a tiki night light, made from 6" dia bamboo, with the eyes and mouth cut out, and a bamboo mat inside to defuse the light. It stands about 16-18 in tall, and is really cool. I did locate some vintage mugs there, but mostly common stuff like Leilani's, though I did find a vintage scorpion bowl from Trader Vics marked at $100.

In the back area, there were 40-50 booths that sold all kinds of Hawaiian foods... from laulau and kalua pork, to shaved ices, to macaroni salad and Hawaiian Sun beverages. The smells were incredible!

This was the first year I attended. Next year, we arrive early, layered to keep warm, armed with blankets for the grass, and ready to spend the entire day soaking up aloha. Did it ever get sunny in the late afternoon?