Masoe to Headline Kuhio Fest in Paukukalo Park March 26

Musician, songwriter and hula dancer Kaniala Masoe will perform at Saturday’s free Prince Kuhio Day Ho‘olaule‘a at Paukukalo Park. Courtesy photo.

Award-winning falsetto artist Kaniala Masoe will headline the Prince Kuhio Day Ho‘olaule‘a on Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Paukukalo Park.

The Paukukalo Hawaiian Homes Community Association will host the 27th free, annual community event, which will feature food, crafts and daylong entertainment, including Aunty Matagi and musical groups Homestead, Pu‘uwai and the Yoke of Jesus Church ensemble.

The event honors Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole on the 145th anniversary of his birth. The 10-term congressional delegate had spearheaded the 1921 federal Hawaiian Homes Commission Act that established the native Hawaiian homestead program.

Kuhio also created the county-governance system still used today in Hawai‘i, reorganized the Royal Order of Kamehameha in 1903 and co-founded the first Hawaiian Civic Club in 1918.

Prince Kuhio spearheaded the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The free Prince Kuhio Day Ho‘olaule‘a on Saturday marks the 95th anniversary of this federal act that established the native Hawaiian homestead program. Courtesy image.

Masoe, winner of the 2002 Aloha Festivals Hawaiian Falsetto Competition, is a versatile songwriter, entertainer and hula dancer.

He is best known for Hawaiian music, although he recreates different musical genres.

Masoe has recorded three albums—Something Special with his parents, Iwalani and Fono, in 1995; Aukahi Pride in 1998, and Pili Aloha in 2004.

Ho‘olaule‘a food purveyors will include the Keokea Homestead Farm Lots Association with its perennially bestselling teriyaki plate lunch; call (808) 870-3220 for pre-sale tickets.

Project Vision Hawai’i will offer adults free vision screening and free reading glasses.

For event information, contact Evalino Mariano at (808) 276-8978 or [email protected].

The half-century-old Paukukalo homestead is one of the oldest Department of Hawaiian Home Lands residential communities on Maui. The 61-acre subdivision encompasses 182 homes, the DHHL Maui County offices and a two-acre Kamehameha preschool campus. The homestead area includes a community center and five-acre county park, and borders to its south the Haleki‘i-Pihana Heiau State Monument.