A traditional Hawaiian luau features a whole pig, covered in leaves and roasted in an underground oven called an imu. While there will be no pig at the Hawaii Club’s 35th Annual Luau on Saturday, the event will include live music, Hawaiian food, games, crafts and hula dances performed by some of the University’s Hawaiian students.
“I think the luau is a way that we give back to the community here and share our culture,” said sophomore Chasidy Wright, this year’s Luau Coordinator.
The luau will be held on Gerlinger Lawn from 2 to 6 p.m. and in the Woodruff Gym in Gerlinger Hall from 6:30 to 10 p.m. During the day, Oregon bands Iron Mango, Big Sweeps, Craig Chee, and Fire in the Rootz will perform. The daytime festival will also include food from Kalanis, volleyball, booths for hula hooping, lei flower making and Hawaiian games.
In the evening, Hawaiian Club students will present different styles of dances from Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa. The reggae band All Natro will fly in from Hawaii especially for to perform a concert at the luau.
This year’s theme is “Hui Pu Kakou,” Hawaiian for “We are united.” The theme for last year’s luau was the diverse cultures of Hawaii, but Wright said that this year’s event was designed to promote interaction between students of all backgrounds.
“A lot of campus events I see are about promoting diversity,” Wright said. “I wanted to make this more about bringing people together, not about how we’re different.”
Senior Katheryne Guillermo, who taught three of the dances that will be performed at the luau, added that the May 1 date is significant to Hawaiian culture.
“This year’s luau is held on May Day, which is an important holiday in Hawaii,” Guillermo said. “It’s called Lei Day. It dated back to a long time ago when it was required that everyone gave leis to each other. The lei symbolizes unity.”
Guillermo has watched many rehearsals where 11 barefoot girls practiced kahiko, a traditional style of hula dancing that uses chanting and Hawaiian instruments.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but with Hawaiian dancing every song tells a story,” Guillermo said. For example, the girls’ hula kahiko dance is done to a lei chant honoring a king.
This is the first year that the Hawaii Club Luau will be held at Gerlinger Lawn and Hall instead of in McArthur Court. Wright said a major reason for the change was to encourage interaction between Hawaiian students and the rest of the University community.
“I wanted to make it less of a show and more about making connections with people,” said Wright.
Hawaii Club Social Chair Nathan Ugale said that people he meets are often curious about Hawaiian culture. Ugale, a sophomore, will perform in three of the luau dances.
“People are always interested,” Ugale said. “They have so many questions, and maybe coming to this event answers all these questions … it gives us the chance to show them what we have back home, 2,000 miles away from Oregon. We’re bringing Hawaii to people here in one night.”
Wright, Ugale and Guillermo agreed that the purpose of the annual luau is to keep Hawaiian culture alive on the mainland.
“I think there are a lot of stereotypes about Hawaiian culture,” Guillermo said. “People always think that we live in grass shacks, that everybody surfs, that everybody dances. I think luau night is a way to educate people from the mainland about the culture of Hawaii.”
Tickets are $15 for University students, $17 for University staff and faculty, and $20 for the general public, and include admission to both the day and night events.
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