21st East Maui Taro Festival this Weekend

Kalo (taro) file photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The 21st Annual East Maui Taro Festival takes place this weekend, April 20 and 21, in Hāna.

The event is free and features a farmers market, poi pounding, arts and crafts, music and hula.

There’s also a kalo (taro) pancake breakfast and tours of the Mahele Farm at ʻUlaʻino, and a Loʻi Excursion at the Kapahu Living Farm in Kīpahulu.

Saturday, April 20, 2013, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hāna Ball Park:

• Farmer’s market, poi pounding, food booths, arts and crafts, information tent, music and hula, emceed by Kanaido and Kaunoa
• Oli by Kaleikoa Kaʻeo; Blessing by ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu Society
• Entertainment: Bluegrass keiki, Steve Sargenti, Kaui Kanakaʻole’s Hālau Hula, Leokāne and CJ, Uncle Richard Hoʻopiʻi, Ola Hou, Cosma sisters, Lava Moon, Danny Estocado, Tuesday Night’s Mic Gang & Hāna Open Mic’rs, and Willie K.

Sunday, April 21, 2013:

• Taro Pancake Breakfast at Hāna Bay, Sponsored by the Hāna Business Council, 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• Kahanu Garden Tours, National Tropical Botanical Garden and Piʻilanihale Heiau, 11 a.m.
• Mahele Farm at ʻUlaʻino: farm tour 12:30 p.m.
• Kapahu Living Farm, Loʻi Excursion hosted by the Kīpahulu ʻOhana and Haleakalā National Park, open from 11 a.m.