Nevada State Museum event celebrates Hawaiian culture

CARSON CITY, Nevada – For the second consecutive year, the Nevada State Museum will celebrate Hawaiian culture with “Lei Day.”

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. It is open to the public and admission is free.

Emulating “May Day is Lei Day,” in Hawaii, the museum’s event will include traditional Hawaiian music, hula dancers, food, lei-making demonstrations and hands-on activities for kids.

The lei making will be demonstrated by Malcolm Leihulu Delovio, a cultural practitioner who learned lei making from his grandmother, Elizabeth Hoʻopiʻi Delovio, who was one of the first lei sellers in Waikiki, opening her stand in the early 1940s.

Members of the Northern Nevada Hawaiian Civic Club, Nā ʻŌiwi O Hawaiʻi, will teach visitors to make kupeʻe (wristlets) made from kī leaf. Kī has many uses in Hawaiian culture, ranging from hula skirts to food wrappers to house thatch.

Lei Day will include performances by two Reno-based hula schools – Ka Pā Hula ʻO Kawaiolanoelaniokāne and Matasina Polynesian Review. The band Pono will be playing traditional Hawaiian music and the food truck, Aloha Shack, will be serving Hawaiian style plate lunches.

The museum also plans a temporary exhibit that illustrates the various types of materials used for lei making as well as a brief history of Lei Day.

Schedule for Lei Day:

10-10:30 a.m.: Greeting and time with crafters

10:30-11:15 a.m.: Hula performance by Ka Pā Hula ʻO Kawaiolanoelaniokāne

11:15-11:45 a.m.: Open time for crafts or food

11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: Musicians

12:45-1:15 p.m.: Open time for crafts or food

1:15-2 p.m.: Hula performance by Matasina Polynesian Review