TACOMA – For just a night you can be in Hawaii. Roasted kalua pig. Sweet slide guitar. Grass skirts and bare feet dancing in unison. No air flight is needed—this is Tacoma’s Polynesian night out.
The Spring Lu`au, one of the biggest public celebrations of Pacific Island culture in the state, will be held again this year by University of Puget Sound’s Hui O Hawai`i student club on Saturday, April 12. The popular evening, which attracts nearly 1,000 people each year, includes Hawaiian food, music, colorful traditional costumes, and exotic dances. Everyone is welcome.
Dinner will be served in Wheelock Student Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the stage show will begin at 8 p.m. in Memorial Fieldhouse. See below for ticket details and a map of campus.
The theme for the 44th annual Spring Lu`au is Ka ‘?ina Ka Makani Ke Ahi Ka Wai, which means “Earth, Wind, Fire, Water.” These are the important elements that make up all life on earth, leading to the event’s overall theme “The Source of Life.”
“The Spring Lu`au is a special cultural event that we have the pleasure of sharing with our fellow students, faculty and staff members, and the local community,” wrote the Hui O Hawai`i student club in an invitation. “The lu`au is an opportunity to share and participate in the cultural significance of our dance, and we invite you to enjoy this evening with us.”
Music will be provided by the band Northwest Blend, a local group that specializes in Hawaiian infused music and that includes four part harmonies in their songs. The show will include about a dozen dances from cultures including Hawaiian, Tahitian, Samoan, and Maori, as well as ritual face-painting, grass skirts, the malo (loincloth), and colorful island dresses. The dinner will include kalua pig, huli huli chicken, lomi lomi salmon, macaroni salad, poi, chicken long rice, haupia, pineapple, and a vegan dish, pineapple stir fry.
When: Saturday, April 12, 2014
Where: Lu`au dinner: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Wheelock Student Center at University of Puget Sound
Lu`au show: 8 p.m. in Memorial Fieldhouse, N. 11th Street and Union Avenue
Tickets: General admission: Combo show and dinner: $23
Puget Sound campus members, seniors (65+), and those 17 and under:
Children 4 years old and under enter free.
Tickets can be ordered in advance and also will be available at the door.
To pay with a credit card call Wheelock Information Center at 253.879.6013.
(Hours: Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.)
To order online go to: tickets.pugetsound.edu
Tickets can be picked up on the day of the Lu`au, 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m. at the Information Center in Wheelock Student Center, or 6:45–7:45 p.m. at the box office at Memorial Fieldhouse.
For more information: send an email to: luautix@pugetsound.edu
For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions