NHOH prepares for fifty-eighth annual Lu’au

Pacific University will host its 58th Annual Lu’au on April 14. The Lu’au is put on every year at Pacific by the Na Haumana O Hawai’I (NHOH) club, with help from parents of students from the islands. This year’s Lu’au theme is “Na Hali’a Aloha,” or “Good Times Together.”

NHOH President Haley Kodama said this year’s Lu’au will showcase the talents of over 175 students, all of varying backgrounds and cultures.

Tickets for Lu’au went on sale on March 5, with show-only tickets starting as low as $15 for students. And as high as $39 for reserved floor seating with a prepared meal beforehand.

Lu’au will kick off with a meal in the University Center (UC) starting at 4:30 p.m. serving kalua pig, poi, coconut cake and punch, among other traditional Hawaiian dishes. Tickets for the meal portion of Lu’au have to be purchased prior to April 14, and cost an additional $5 to normal ticket prices.

The doors to the Stoller Center will open at 5:30 p.m. on April 14 and the show will begin soon after. Before the show, event goers can peruse the Hawaii General Store in the Stoller lobby, which will be selling items flown in from the islands.

These items include, but are not limited to, chocolate covered macadamia nuts, leis and even fresh pineapple. This store will also be open on April 14 from 10:00 a.m.to 4:00 p.m.

This year’s Lu’au will showcase 23 dances, with one brand new, never before seen, dance.

According to Kodama, the lone new addition to this year’s show is an alumni dance. The dance is being done to commemorate NHOH Advisor Edna Gehring, or “Aunty Edna,” in her last year at Pacific.

The Kahili dance will return to this year’s show, after being absent from the last three shows.

For the students involved in this year’s show, the experience of Lu’au weekend provides several benefits. On the Friday before Lu’au, students come together and put a pig in an imu, or underground oven. A spectacle Kodama said was her “favorite part of Lu’au.”

Then, on Saturday night, participants get to enjoy the cooked pig and bask in the relief of having put on another spectacular show.