Plantation Days 2013

Each autumn our community gets the chance to come together and celebrate the multi-ethic culture that exists here and is based upon the old sugar plantation days. Sugar was king here at one time, being the main employer in the area. With not enough locals willing to work the plantations, the sugar businesses brought immigrant workers in. Portuguese. Japanese. Filipino. Chinese. Puerto Rican.

 These nationals joined the local Hawaiians in the labor force, living in their own ethic camps. Many stayed in Hawaii once their contracts were fulfilled, thus adding their cultural color to their communities. Ka'u still sees the strong influence that these sugar plantation workers made in our area.

Plantation Days celebrates this. Informational booths display artifacts passed down from grandparents and great aunts & uncles.

 Hundreds of photos maintain the memories of the plantations, the ranches, the local dairy, the camps and sugar towns, the activities and events that went on. Ethic music and hula entertains the crowd. 

And various food booths make lunch offerings of  ethic cuisines. Yum!

This is a family event, a community event. Every year it has been growing bigger and gets better attendance. I'm hoping it doesn't outgrow it's venue, for it is held on the grounds of the old plantation manager's home. The grounds are quite nice and comfortable. The home itself was rescued and renovated in the original style. It's a perfect site for the festival.