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After the King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade on Saturday, June 15, enjoy a FREE concert at Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel featuring top Hawaiian recording artist, Nathan Kawai Aweau. The only artist to earn three Hoku Hanohano "Male Vocalist of the Year" awards, Nathan has won Hoku awards for "Best Jazz Album" (Bass Etude), "Best Contemporary Hawaiian Album," and "Song of the Year" (E Apo Mai).   Additionally, he was a guest artist on two Grammy-nominated projects: 2009 Slack Key Kings Vol II, and Amy Hanaiali‘i's Friends and Family, featuring one of his original songs performed as a duet. The founding member and principal vocalist for the musical supergroup Hapa for 8 years, Nathan also played bass for singer Don Ho for 16 years. This year's King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade takes…

A two-day Pa‘u Workshop will be held at Kona Historical Society on Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Held in conjunction with the upcoming King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade on June 15, 2013 in Kailua-Kona, the workshop begins on Saturday with instruction in lei making for riders' and horses' lei, as well as the proper flowers and foliage used for each Hawaiian island. On Sunday, topics will include history of pa‘u, wrapping of the garment, equestrian skills and parade protocol. A panel of Hawaii Island kupuna will be on hand to share their knowledge and stories. Open to the public, the workshop is designed for parade participants who will be riding in the traditional Hawaiian equestrian style known as "pa‘u," which is characterized…

This year's King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade will feature a team of miniature horses from the Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawai‘i's (THH) Kona Program. The two miniature horses, better known as Peaches and Calypso, have brought a whole new dimension to the Kona program. Kona Program Director Nancy Bloomfield started the Big Island THH in 2005, which has grown to 38 student participants and 16 volunteers. A pediatric physical therapist herself, Nancy says the addition of the miniature horses has really benefitted the younger riders, who can easier learn to groom, lead and work with a smaller animal. The miniature horses are also being utilized as therapy animals in the community at large, visiting special education classes, the senior center, Arc of Kona, the Regency Special Care Unit and Kona Adult…

Click on our photo gallery of the 2011 King Kamehameha Day Celebration Parade.

Click here to read about the pa‘u panel discussion that took place at the West Hawaii Civic Center on Wednesday evening, May 30th: http://westhawaiitoday.com/sections/news/local-news/panel-discusses-pa‘u-riding.html