kamehameha day

Festivities concerning the upcoming Kamehameha Day, a state holiday here in Hawaii, have been in full force this weekend. Celebrated on June 11th, Kamehameha Day honors King Kamehameha I, the man responsible for uniting the Hawaiian Islands and the first monarch of the Hawaiian kingdom - a fairly impressive feat considering the fact that Hawaiians did not have a written language at that time (1795).

Yesterday there was a large parade that we missed out on, but it happened to go down the street just a couple blocks away from our building. We could hear the band playing, and could see parts of the parade as it passed by from our window. One of the oldest traditions surrounding the holiday is draping the Kamehameha statues (one here, one on the island of Hawaii, and one in Washington D.C.) with long strands of flower leis. We live just a few blocks from the one here so Ava and I walked up for a look today.

There were quite a few people milling about and taking photos when we got there. I happened to overhear a group of ladies talking about making one of the long leis. One of them said it took them four days to complete.

By pure happenstance the Hawaiian Royal Order Guards were there doing a demonstration at the same time.


It was a lovely day - perfect for a walk. Here are a couple shots of Ava on the way home.