This year’s family festival at NMAI celebrates all things Hawai’i! Enjoy a hula dance performance and learn the history behind it, get to know Hawaiian musical instruments, watch animated short films about ocean safety, and participate in a variety of hands-on activities for all ages. 

ONGOING

Level 1: Diker Pavilion

• Coconut leaf weaving: `Ulana lau niu is the art of weaving coconut leaves, learn how to weave a coconut leaf into fish, headband, or rose.
• Kapa: Dalani Tanahy (Native Hawaiian), a master in the art of Kapa (bark cloth making) shares her expertise and demonstrates how to create a Kapa bookmark.
• Bracelet making: Learn to weave a lauhala (hala leaf) bracelet and/or kukui nut bracelet. Both hala (also known as screwpine) and kukui nut trees had many uses in ancient Hawai’i, learn about their significance and make bracelets to take home.
• Lei making: Enjoy demonstrations of multiple forms of lei making, including kui (needle and thread), wiliwili (wrapping), and haku (braiding). Visitors can see and smell different types of lei shipped in from Hawai'i and make a contemporary lei using silk flowers and string.

Level 2: Rotunda

• Musical instruments demonstration: Learn about a wide array of Hawaiian instruments and how to use them, including the `ukulele, pu`ili (nodes of bamboo), `uli`uli (hula rattles), `ili`ili (pebbles used like castanets), `ohe hano ihu (bamboo nose flute), ipu (single bottle gourd drum), ipu heke (double bottle gourd drum), and pahu hula (tall drum).

SELECT TIMES

Level 1: imagiNATIONS Activity Center Classroom

11:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, 3:30 PM

Screenings: Maka‘ala Bay: Lessons from the Sea (18 min)

• Watch episodes from the educational series Maka‘ala Bay: Lessons from the Sea, which creatively combine animation and live action to teach people of all ages about the sea.
  • “Hoʻokele” (Ep. 2): ‘Anakē Manō teaches I‘o, Ma‘o, Sila and ʻAʻama about the ancient Hawaiian voyaging and navigation tradition – hoʻokele.
  • “When In Doubt Don’t Go Out” (Ep. 3): Wise maternal tiger shark ‘Anakē Manō helps the little black crab ‘A‘ama overcome her doubts and trust her na‘au – her gut – to join her ocean friends for a day of fun in the sea.

Level 2: Rotunda

12 PM, 2 PM, 4 PM

Hula performance with Hālau Nohona Hawai’i: Members of the Washington, DC-based hula school Hālau Nohona Hawai'i will demonstrate traditional and modern hula and enlighten visitors about the history and evolution of each. 

 

Find more May fairs and festivals here.