2016 Spring Lu`au—Pacific Island Food, Dance, and Music

TACOMA, Wash. – With April comes spring, and with spring comes that warm night of alluring Polynesian music and swinging grass skirts that are the University of Puget Sound Spring Lu`au.

Students from the Ka Ohana me Ke Aloha (formerly Hui O Hawai`i) club will present the evening of food, dance, costumes, and music for the 47th year to familiarize Pacific Northwesterners with Polynesia’s colorful storytelling culture.

 

The Saturday, April 9, Spring Lu`au will include a Hawaiian dinner and an internationally inspired stage show, with traditional dances from Pacific Ocean cultures. The event is one of the biggest celebrations of Polynesian culture in the state, attracting nearly 1,000 people each year.

Dinner will be served from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., in Marshall Hall of Wheelock Student Center, near the Alder Street entrance to campus. The stage show will begin at 8 p.m., in Memorial Fieldhouse, just off the corner of Union Avenue and N. 11th Street. See below for ticket details and a map of campus.

The Ka Ohana me ke Aloha organizers have chosen the theme this year of Ku’u Wahi Pana, or “The Places that I Love.” The theme encourages students and visitors alike to think about the places that they come from and the place that they hold within their hearts.

 

“Oftentimes, we are caught up in the moment, and as a result, we tend to forget about various aspects of our lives,” said Shane Kiyota ’16, president of Ka Ohana me ke Aloha. “But at the end of the day, our thoughts always come back to the places that we love, whether it be for the memories we associate with it or the people who continue to make it worth loving. There is so much to enjoy in Polynesian culture, and we invite everyone to come for a magical evening.”

Music will be provided by Northwest Blend, a local group specializing in Hawaiian-infused music, which includes four-part harmonies in their songs. The show will include numerous dances from cultures, including Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Samoan, and the spectacle of grass skirts, the malo (loincloth), and colorful island dresses. The dinner will include poi, mac salad, fresh pineapple, Waimanalo green salad, Lomi Lomi salmon, musubi rolls, Hawaiian sweet rolls, Kalua pig, Huli Huli chicken, aloha sweet potatoes, sticky rice, haupia, coconut guava cake, and punch.

Tickets are on sale now and are available in advance or at the door.

When:    Saturday, April 9, 2016
Where:   Lu`au dinner: 5–7 p.m. in Wheelock Student Center, N. 15th Street, and N. Alder Street
               Lu`au show: 8 p.m. in Memorial Fieldhouse, N. 11th Street, and Union Avenue
Tickets: General admission: Combo show and dinner: $21
                                                Show only: $10
                                                Dinner only: $11

              Puget Sound campus members, seniors (65+), and those 12 and under:
                                                Combo show and dinner: $17
                                                Show only: $8
                                                Dinner only: $9
              Children 4 years old and under enter free.

To pay with a credit card, call Wheelock Information Center at 253.879.3100.
(Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.–10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.)

To order online, go to tickets.pugetsound.edu.

Tickets can be picked up on the day of the Lu`au, 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m., at the Information Desk in Wheelock Student Center, or 6:45–7:45 p.m. at the box office in Memorial Fieldhouse.

For more information: send an email to luautix@pugetsound.edu.
For directions and a map of campus, visit pugetsound.edu/directions.

Tweet this: What a night! #Polynesian food, dance, music, Spring Lu`au @univpugetsound, Sat. April 9. #Tacoma http://bit.ly/1VhmXvC

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