Festival showcases Island ingenuity
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Four-hundred Made in Hawaii festival vendors and several thousand customers took up about every inch of space yesterday inside the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and Arena, and happy customers kept pouring in.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We had a huge day yesterday and we're having a huge day today," Festival Manager Amy Hammond said. "They've been shopping like maniacs."
Tammy Luke of Hawai'i Kai, left, tries on a Crowning Glory hat that was hand made by designer Emi Azeka Preston at the Made in Hawaii festival at Blaisdell Center. Preston's hats have graced the heads of such celebrities as Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Bush. Preston was one of 400 vendors who displayed their goods over the weekend.
Doors opened at noon Friday, and attendance topped 11,000 before they closed at 9 p.m. As of 3 p.m. yesterday, another 9,000 had walked through the doors.
The festival continues today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Shoppers had a wide selection of products to chose from, and prices were good even with the $3 parking fee and $2 admission. (Half the admission was footed by First Hawaiian Bank, which handed out coupons at the ticket booth Saturday.)
The festival includes entertainment and cooking demonstrations.
Among the items for sale: jewelry, original print T-shirts, hand-painted pillows, organic fertilizer, Thai watermelon, butterfish with black bean sauce ready to pop in the microwave and straw hats from a designer whose creations have graced the heads of Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Bush and a princess of Saudi Arabia.
Betty Chun of 'Aiea and her friend, Sylvia Hashimoto of Hilo, headed for the Massage Therapy Group booth where they were pampered by the trained fingers of therapists Dane K. Kuratsu and Ricco Racela at the rate of $1 per minute.
"Wonderful, wonderful," said Chun. "Oh, so good."
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Friday morning, Hammond said, was devoted to a trade show, where craftsmen, cooks and suppliers hooked up with retailers.
Landri Arakawa of Lahaina, Maui, samples some of the goodies made by the Uncle Louie Sausage Co. at the Made in Hawaii festival at the Blaisdell Center and Exhibition Hall.
Martin Lugo of the Big Island said yesterday three O'ahu-based stores will soon be featuring the traditional Hawaiian fishing hook ornaments he had on display at the Niele on Hooks booth. Ancient Hawaiians carved the hooks from the femur bone of a deceased loved one, Lugo said, then wore them close to the heart.
Lugo uses shimmering mother of pearl shell.
Ed Saito of Hawai'i Kai said he collected another retailer to add to those who sell his shirts, shorts and aprons made from rice bags. Saito, whose shop is called Da Bag Place, started selling rice bag clothes at swap meets 17 years ago, and now has products selling from San Francisco to Texas.
Gale Sagucio of Kaua'i sold Ni'ihau shell lei at J.J. Ohana. She said she started making shell lei in the 1970s, when she was 12.
Emi Azeka Preston's hand-dyed and sculpted straw hats have shown up all over the world on the heads of politicians, Playboy playmates, literary figures, talk show hosts and royalty. Preston, who lives on Maui, said she thought this would be her last big show in Honolulu. Her loyal O'ahu customers, however, are talking about hosting private parties as a sales platform.
Preston's hats are fashioned after the Lurline period in Hawaiian history, when lei sellers wore straw hats to greet incoming cruise ships. Hat prices ranged from $40 to $300.
Rico Labang's stand was Rico's Ceramic Tile, but the products that drew the most attention from customers were his hand-lettered signs — in pidgin.
"If I could charge them for laughs, I'd be a millionaire by now," Labang said.
"I want that one," a customer said, pointing to one of Labang's signs.
It said: "No Fut in Hea."
