Polynesian culture the highlight at inaugural NNHA festival
Hawaiian music, its melody as gentle as a swaying tropical breeze, floated off the stage and around the Marv Teixeira Pavilion at Mills Park Saturday afternoon to the delight of visitors at the first-ever Polynesian Festival in Carson City.
Organized by the Northern Nevada Hui Association (NNHA), the festival is a celebration of Polynesian culture, said Master of Ceremonies Shawn Satoga.
"This is about perpetuating our culture," said Satoga, who moved to Dayton from Hawaii 18 months ago. "We keep on meeting new island people with every event we hold, and this makes us want to give back."
Satoga said a sizeable community of Pacific Island people reside in the Northern Nevada region, and that number is expected to increase.
"It's growing," he said.
Satoga said this is the first of three Pacific Island festivals scheduled in Northern Nevada. The next event is the Aloha Festival next month at Wingfield Park in Reno.
Since Saturday's celebration was an inaugural event in Carson City, Satoga said planning and organizing took over a year.
"About 12 to 16 months to organize," he said. "It's hard work, and it takes a team. But I've got good team members around me."
Turn out at Saturday's inaugural Polynesian Festival was robust.
Dozens were in attendance for the opening ceremony, and many more visitors filed through the pavilion gates in the afternoon.
The lunch hour was particularly busy as visitors sought to satisfy their palates at one of a handful of Pacific Island food vendors, including festival sponsor L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, a Hawaii-based food-chain with franchises in Reno and Dayton.
Several craft vendors also lined both sides of the pavilion, leaving the center for visitors to enjoy Polynesian food and entertainment.
Visitors were treated throughout the day festival to live Hawaiian music from bands and vocalists, a drum routine by the Taiko Drummers of Reno, and carefully choreographed dances by trained Polynesian dancers.
Festivities continue through the afternoon until about 8 p.m. Saturday.
The NNHA's inaugural Polynesian Festival is sponsored, in part, by the Carson City Visitors Bureau, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Walmart, Trader Joe's, Round Table Pizza, Applebee's, Starbucks, the Home Depot, Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys Burgers, and the Hyatt South Lake Tahoe.
For more information about celebrations of Pacific Island culture and events in the area, visit the NNHA web site here.
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