Colorful decorations, costumes, island music and dancing differentiate luaus from other parties.
In Hawaii, a luau -- literally, a food feast -- is a common, outdoor celebration for all occasions. Organizing a Hawaiian luau in your own backyard, around a traditional centerpiece of a whole roasted pig, makes for an exciting celebration. As well as Hawaiian-themed food, bright decorations, costumes and music, keep your guests entertained with hula games and activities. Does this Spark an idea?
Luau Performers
There are a number of traditional Hawaiian performers available for hire.
If your luau is for a large event such as a wedding, or you simply have a large number of guests, hiring professional luau performers adds a real touch of authenticity to your celebrations. From Hawaiian bands to traditional fire knife dancers, there are numerous professional luau entertainers available for hire all over America. There are even Hawaiian dancers that will come to your luau and teach your guests hula.
Hula Steps
Hand movements form an important part of Hawaiian dancing.
For a smaller or budget celebration, teach guests the hula steps yourself. The basic hula steps, according to the website Aloha Friends Luau, are the 'ami, rotating hips clockwise and counter clockwise; hule, rotating while swaying hips; kaholo, sliding step; love hands, crossing hands over chest; ocean hands, moving hands illustrating movement of waves; rainbow hands, palms meeting at the left and the right hand lifting to show a rainbow shape; and tide roll hands, hands rolling continuously over each other to illustrate the rolling motion of the sea.
Kimo Says
Present the winner with a Hawaiian lei.
This game is played in the same way as Simon Says. "Kimo" will call out the different hula dance steps that the guests have just learned. Don't be too fussy about the steps being completely accurate; remember, your guests have only just learned these moves. However, anyone who performs a move that's called out without first hearing "Kimo says" -- whether it is the right move or not -- will have to sit out. Continue the game until only one person remains.
Charades
Keep the game going until every guest has had a turn.
Hand each guest a sheet with all the hula moves and a description of each step. In a suitably Hawaiian-looking container, place pieces of paper with a different hula step on each piece. The first person takes a piece of paper from the container and performs the move. The other guests establish the name of the step, using the list. The first person to call out the correct answer gets to choose the next person to perform a hula move.
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