A free Family Movie Night featuring "Only the Brave," directed by Lane Nishikawa, will be held on Friday, May 14, in the Maui Community College Student Center (Pilina Building). Nishikawa will be in attendance and will sign DVDs which will be available for sale.
The Matsuri festivities continue on Saturday, May 15, from 3 to 9 p.m. at the Maui Community College (MCC), where Matsuri organizers will transform the grassy knolls of the campus into a bunkamura (Japanese village), dotted with stalls selling mouth watering goodies and a variety of crafts. The demonstration and entertainment stages will showcase the best of Maui County’s Japanese and Okinawan talent as well as traditional martial arts and eating contests. Contestants are also being sought for the saimin and natto eating contests, and the costume cosplay (costume play) contest. An inaugural hanafuda tournament is also scheduled.
Keiki have a world of their own at the Kodomo Corner where tons of hands-on free craft activities such as origami and gyotaku (Japanese fish printing) will be available. Japanese superheroes Kikaida and his friends headline the event at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
The festival ends with a community obon dance starting from 7:30 pm. The community is invited to wear a hapi coat or kimono and join in on the dancing.
Admission to the festival and parking are free.
Kay Fukumoto, Yuki Lei Sugimura, Tiffany Iida, and Lynn Araki-Regan said that, as co-chairs of the 10th Annual Maui Matsuri, their goal is to produce a Festival that grows more spectacular annually and expose the mainstream population to the diverse Japanese cultural arts and traditions.
Sponsored in large part by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and County of Maui, as well as Island Honda, this year’s honorary chair is U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye.
An event to kick off this year's Maui Matsuri will be held on Friday, May 7, at 6:30 p.m. at Queen Kaahumanu Center. The kick off event will include dancing, singing, a kimomo fashion show, a cosplay exhibition, and an obon dancing rehearsal.
For more information on the Maui Matsuri, call the Matsuri Hotline at 283-9999
