Hawaiian Song and Dance at the Liberty Challenge Festival

By the time the women's race was over, the festival on the pier was well underway - all kinds of beautiful music and dance! 

Unfortunately I didn't get the names of the hālau or performers, but I did get a few nice pictures (and a little bit homesick - I wish I remembered any of the hula I learned when I was a kid)! 

If my friend Harry and I hadn't made plans to go for a fireboat ride later in the day, I might have just camped out here all day. As things worked out, I'm glad we did what we did 'cause it was a really nice ride on the Harvey - felt like WAY more than the allocated 45 minutes somehow, and on top of the standard harbor pictures, we went RIGHT PAST the 3rd outrigger race of the day, the 11-mile coed race. Fantastic seeing the wa'a out there in the harbor -- that nice shot of the outrigger at the Statue I posted a couple of days ago? That's when I got that, and of course more, which of course will appear here in due time.

But first, here's the music and dance -- and behind the stage, lei-making and hula lessons for da keiki! Click on the first picture for a slide-show view.