Only in (or from) Hawai'i

Get ready to shop till you drop as the much-anticipated 2004 Made in Hawaii Festival gets under way at the Blaisdell Arena and Exhibition Hall this weekend. More than 400 exhibitors from O'ahu, Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island will showcase their wares, all made or grown in Hawai'i. Local chefs take the spotlight, with cooking demonstrations throughout the weekend, and there's a live taping of "Hawaii's Kitchen" at 2 p.m. Saturday. Entertainment includes 'Ale'a, Del Beazley, Kelly Boy DeLima and Kapena, Auntie Genoa Keawe, Weldon Kekauoha, Azure McCall, Maunalua, O'Brian Eselu, Marlene Sai, Owana Salazar, Jerry Santos and Frank DeLima. This year's event also features performances by the 'ukulele students of Bruce Shimabukuro's Ukulele Essence and other studios, and demonstrations by Rubber Stamp Plantation at 7 p.m. today and 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Festival hours are noon-9 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $2 general and free for children younger than 6. Coupons for half-off admission prices are available at First Hawaiian Bank. 533-1292.

From football to song

Former Baltimore Ravens football player Ta'u Pupu'a performs Italian, French and American songs Saturday at the "Sounds of Our Pacific Islanders" concert. Pupu'a is now training for the opera in New York City. The concert starts at 7 p.m. in Kilohana United Methodist Church. The performance also includes Tongan songs and dances by children of the church. Admission is by donation as the show benefits the Tongan congregation's Agriculture Project and Certified Nurses Aide Program. 373-3373.

In honor of Duke Kahanamoku

Celebrate The Duke this weekend as the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation hosts the 2004 Duke's Ho'olaule'a in Waikiki. The array of festivities honoring the legendary surfer/swimmer culminates in a sunrise ceremony commemorating Kahanamoku's 114th birthday. Events include:

• The Converse Hawaiian Open preliminaries, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. today off Waikiki Beach. Presented by Longboard magazine, the Hawai'i leg is the third of four stages that determines the U.S. Professional Longboard Surfing Championships. The finals happen from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday as participants compete for a $26,000 prize.

• Ho'ohanohano Na Kanaka O Ke Kai, 5 p.m. today at Duke's Canoe Club. The old-timer beachboy celebration is a talk-story gathering to look back on Kahanamoku's achievements.

• Surf Polo, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Kapahulu Groin, with water polo being played on surfboards.

The Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach and Sheraton Moana Surfrider host a day of fun Saturday:

• From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Outrigger, there will be Olympic sand sculptures, "Hands in the Sand" clinics at 10 a.m., noon, 2 and 4 p.m., lei making, Duke's Olympic medals exhibit, longboard display and "Duke: A Great Hawaiian" book premiere with author Sandra Hall, and presentations with Hall at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

• From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Moana, there will be community lei making, talk story with Duke historian Grady Timmons, slide presentation with Timmons at 11:45 a.m. and 1:45 p.m., and a longboarding history presentation with Timothy De La Vega at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

There's more:

• Duke's statue will be draped with lei at 5 p.m. Saturday, following a sidewalk surfboard procession of lei starting at the Outrigger at 4:30 p.m.

• Duke's One-Mile Ocean Swim starts at 8:30 a.m. Sunday on the beach fronting Duke's Waikiki. A Waterman Challenge also happens at 10 a.m. that same morning as teams of watermen compete in swimming, paddle boarding and canoe racing. And the Lanikai Canoe Club's 37th annual Duke Kahanamoku Classic participants start arriving in Waikiki around noon, after having started at Kailua Beach Park.

• This month's Brunch on the Beach also celebrates The Duke with entertainment from the Royal Hawaiian Band, Kamehameha Schools Hawaiian ensemble, 'Ili'ahi and Danny Kaleikini. It all happens 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Sunday on Kalakaua Avenue.

• The ho'olaule'a comes to a close with a sunrise birthday greeting at Duke's statue 5:30-7 a.m. Tuesday. The tribute includes spreading flowers in the Waikiki surf as friends and former associates of Duke ride in the canoe he paddled and won races in.
Free. 526-4888.

Hewett and hula

Kumu Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett's Kuhai Halau O Kawaikapuokalani Pa 'Olapa Kahiko Inc. presents its 27th annual Ho'ike Saturday at the Ron Bright Theatre at Castle High School. The celebration includes The Lim Family and Olomana at the 2 p.m. matinee show, and Auntie Genoa Keawe and 'Ale'a at the 7 p.m. evening show. The second half of each performance features Hewett, above, accompanied by artists from his latest recording, "Mo'o'olelo." Nalani Olds is mistress of ceremonies. Tickets are $15. 234-1155.

Celebrating U.S. — Japan relations

The award-winning Japan Philharmonic Orchestra performs its debut concerts in Hawai'i Tuesday and Wednesday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of U.S.-Japan relations. The program includes "Requiem for Strings," "Concerto de Aranjuez" and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Concertmaster Masayuki Kino and guitar soloist Kaori Muraji appear as guest artists. Kenichiro Kobayashi conducts. Both concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Tickets are $25-$50. (877) 750-4400.

7 Simple Pieces celebrates a CD

Kapono's will be alive with music as local Christian band 7 Simple Pieces celebrates its CD release party from 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday. The group's blend of Island contemporary, reggae and hip-hop has kept crowds grooving at Pipeline CafŽ, Dave & Buster's and Eastside Grill. The band also opened at the sold- out concerts for Mercy Me and Mark Schultz. Saturday's show features Colleen Nomura, who will be dancing and signing to the band's current hit, "The One Who Loves You!" Also featured: Natural Vibrations, Three Plus, Battle Royale, Milo Shade and Big Break. Tickets are $10 advance and $15 at the door. Those 12 and younger are free. The concert also is a fund-raiser for Kamalani Isabella Quindica, who was diagnosed with hepato-blastoma cancer and recently received a liver transplant. 536-2161.

Karen Yamamoto Hackler

'The Lines' continue

Lo'i Theatre's first production, "The Lines are Drawn," continues its run this weekend with just seven more performances to go. The new company's play features an elderly married couple in Manoa Valley who bicker, quibble, laugh and love. William Ha'o and Nan Asuncion play Mr. and Mrs. Y. Jim Nakamoto directs. Showtimes are:

• 7:30 p.m. today at McKinley High School auditorium.

• 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday at Central Union Church Parish Hall.

• 7 p.m. Sunday at Hawaii Okinawa Center.

• 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at Church of the Crossroads, Weaver Hall.

• 6 p.m. Aug. 29 at Ho'ala School in Wahiawa.