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Most people are familiar with the lu’au long before visiting the Hawaiian Islands, where the floorshow featuring grass skirts and fire dance is as ubiquitous as 80-degree temperatures and white sand beaches. Yet every lu’au is different, ranging from a nightly pre-cast affair at a humongous resort to a small family celebration. Contemplating which lu’au to attend shouldn’t encroach too much upon your snorkeling time, but your first lu’au experience will likely determine whether you add “lu’au” to your “must-do” list in future visits.

First, a little history. Hawaiian celebrations were originally called ‘aha ‘aina. Every element, from seating arrangement to menu to song, was rich with symbolism, class and religious significance. Hawaiian men and women ate separately until King Kamehameha II abolished the practice, along with several other religious rites in 1819.  Contact with westerners led to the change of name to lu’au, literally a traditional dish of taro leaves and chicken baked in coconut milk. The foods, including many varieties of poi, a staple made from the taro root, were eaten on woven mats on the floor and utensils were never used. Today, such traditional settings are rare, though they can still be found with diligent research or via a good concierge.

Selecting your Maui lu’au proves a unique decision. If you enjoy productions on a grand scale, then the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa’s “Drums of the Pacific Lu’au” is your destination. This nightly two-hour show includes drums, dance and buffet similar to cruise ship entertainment. Not surprisingly, several cruise-ship lines contract with the Hyatt, Maui’s largest resort, and include the lu’au in the land package.

The Old Lahaina Lu’au offers little pyrotechnical dazzle, but a more authentic experience. Less Polynesian in scope, the focus of this 3-hour feast is exclusively Hawaiian history and culture as displayed from Ote’a, ancient migration to Hawai’i, through ‘Auana, the modern hula. The menu and the environs (which includes dining in the Hale Aÿi or “eating house”) also convey Maui’s closest simulation of the festive traditions of this storied archipelago.

There is also plenty of native culture to be found outside the lu’au. Napili Kai Beach Resort offers two excellent showcases of local talent. The Masters of Slack Key Guitar Concert Series features George Kahumoku, Jr, a three-time Grammy Award winner. The Napili Kai Foundation Keiki Hula Show celebrates the talents of area children who study the dances, language, history and culture of the islands.

Like the Old Lahaina Lu’au, Napili Kai’s programs celebrate Malama Maui, the region’s effort to preserve and nurture (malama means nurture) the heritage of this region.
Islands encounter unique challenges. In biology, the archipelago may present, as Darwin discovered so famously in the Galapagos, species unlike any previously imagined. But the idiosyncratic evolution (the technical term is “adaptive radiation”) also makes the island species more vulnerable than most. Witness the ubiquitous common myna, an introduced species that thrives in Hawai’i to the detriment of similar native species.

The same is true for the Hawaiian culture. Long preserved by geographical isolation, the challenge of today’s aesthetic steward is to advance into the future while honoring and teaching the glorious past. The authentic lu’au offers one important opportunity to inform and entertain its participants and guests, a function it has proudly performed, regardless of its name, for thousands of years.  

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