17th Maui Taro Festival

On April 25th and 26th, the 17th annual Maui taro festival will take place. On Saturday, the 25th, the festival will take place at Hana Ball Park. On the 26th, the festivities will begin in the same place but there will be field trips to the Kahanu Garden and the Kapahu Living Farm.

The purpose of the taro festival is to promote Hawaiian cultural values, products, and of course, taro. The Maui festival was conceived from the Oahu Pacific Islands Taro Festival. Built around the idea that taro represents the origin of the Hawaiian people, the festival came to represent the culture as a unifying symbol.

Past activities have included taro harvesting and planting huli at Kapahu Living Farm and making poi and laulau at the Kipahulu kitchen.

The Hawaiian name for taro is actually kalo, which, in Hawaiian legend, grew from the first-born son of Wakea (the sky father) and Papa (the earth mother). The Hawaiian people believed the taro to posess the greatest life force of all foods. Coming together around a poi bowl represents the relationship of family in Hawaiian culture. It is considered a ceremony of life.

Depending on the variety of taro, all parts of the plant can be eaten. Leaves are cooked as greens, such as with spinach, and the starchy tubers are eaten baked, steamed, boiled or cooked and mashed with water to make poi. The color of the tuber can be yellow, white, lilac-purple, and pink to reddish. For more detailed information on the festival or the taro plant, see the East Maui Taro Festival website.

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