University of Puget Sound Hosts Celebration of Pacific Island Dance and Culture with Spring Lu`au

TACOMA, Wash. – The community is invited to join campus members and families of current students for an entertaining evening of Polynesian music, dance, and food, Saturday, April 9. 

Once again, the Spring Lu`au, presented each year by the Ka Ohana me ke Aloha student club, will take place on Saturday of Spring Family Weekend—a time when Puget Sound families come from across the country to explore the City of Destiny and the campus that is now home to their students.

“This hasn’t been happening for two years, and it’s something that the Puget Sound community looks forward to, so I’m happy to be putting it on,” says Kiana Serrao ’22, OTD’24, a member of Ka Ohana me ke Aloha and one of the event organizers. “I’m excited that we can finally come back together and cultivate community.”

The Saturday, April 9, Spring Lu`au is a celebration of the Hawaiian culture and other Polynesian cultures through dance. The show will include five hula dances choreographed and performed by Puget Sound students, plus a performance by a Tahitian dance troupe from Tacoma's Asia Pacific Cultural Center. This year’s event also will feature a country store with items from Hawai`i, such as candies, nuts, and juices, available for purchase (cash only) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Wheelock Student Center, and before and after the show in Memorial Fieldhouse.

Prior to the show, Hawaiian dinner fare will be available to purchase and enjoy from The Diner. Options include Kalua pork with cabbage, huli huli chicken, Hawaiian barbecue tofu, sticky rice, Big Island pineapple, mac salad, Kings Sweet Roles, and guava cupcakes. 

Dinner dining begins at 5 p.m., and Hawaiian fare will be available while supplies last, in Marshall Hall, located in Wheelock Student Center, near the N. Alder Street and N. 15th Street entrance to campus. Dinner items will be available a la carte and may be purchased using credit card or Dining Dollars (for current students). The stage show will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Fieldhouse, just off the corner of Union Avenue and N. 11th Street. 

Tickets are available now at tickets.pugetsound.edu or from the Info Center in Wheelock Student Center. Admission is $10 general; $5 for Puget Sound students, faculty, and staff, seniors, and military members. For more information, send an email to ohana@pugetsound.edu.