Fourth Annual Avocado Festival
Have you ever made your own sushi and enjoyed it while listening to Hawaiian chants and experiencing hula? How about learning how to graft an avocado tree, or compost with worms, or cultivate honey bees for pollination, or the do’s and don’ts of macadamia nut cultivation and production?
These were some of the featured presentations at this year's Fourth Annual Avocado Festival, which took place on February 20, 2010 at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in South Kona. Leading island experts in agriculture and and gardening demonstrated their knowledge and skills for an overflowing crowd of nearly 3,000. Attendees learned about avocados and many other locally grown foods in a festival atmosphere of local arts and crafts and the din of countless conversations and stage entertainment.
Curiosity seekers got to experience a “green" Fashion Show highlighting organic and sustainable clothing made from cotton and bamboo. A stroll down the lower part of the Garden grounds gave many the opportunity to examine renewable solar energy systems and a uniquely designed and constructed, energy-efficient geometric dwellings—models for a “small is beautiful” future.
West Hawai`i Explorations Academy students watched over all rubbish collection areas to ensure that the event included Zero Waste collection of recyclables and compostables. Many attendees couldn’t help swaying to the tunes of Bolo’s slack key rhythms, and performances by Stuheart & Friends, Kona Celtic Connection and the soulful sounds of Bhakti Tribe.
A highly informative panel discussion on the growing local, sustainable agriculture movement was led by Hawai‘i educational and business leaders. Emphasis was on the vital need to integrate the “new agriculture and food paradigm” into the school curriculum, from pre-school through high school, and beyond.
Another major highlight of the festival, as in years past, was the culinary delights of the Avocado Recipe contest. Winning entries this year included a blissfully delicious avocado cheesecake, a vegan avo pie and a sumptuous organic guacamole.
With more booths, more presenters, and more attendees this year than ever before, the Avocado Festival has become a fixture for Hawai‘i Island’s sustainable food communities to gather and renew their commitment to a “Grow Local/Eat Local” future.
The Annual Hawai`i Avocado Festival is sponsored by the Sanctuary of Mana Ke`a Gardens, a 501(c)3 charitable organization and is held every year at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. Its mission is to present a day of festivities celebrating the role of the avocado in Hawaiian culture, arts, sustainable architecture and agriculture.