Celebrating Conservation Efforts on Kauai!       Click here to view 2007 Photos

The plucky and imaginative ‘Banana Poka RoundUp’ at Koke’e State Park will be held on Sunday, May 25, 2008. This day-long environmental education fair is presented for the 19th year by Hui o Laka ~ Koke’e Natural History Museum and Hawaii Tourism Authority ~ County of Kauai. Held at Kanaloahuluhulu Meadow fronting the Koke’e Museum, the event “rounds up” visitors, families and residents for a cool day of mountain music, workshops, exhibits, and family activities that has become a tradition on Kaua’i’s west side.

The festival is named for the resilient and spreading banana poka vines that sport candy-pink blossoms that threatens to crowd out native Hawaiian plants and trees of the upland forest. Banana poka is not the only threat to Kaua’i’s native forests.

Basket-makers will happily spend the day learning to weave the pliable vines into baskets of functional form and beauty to the strains of beautiful Hawaiian music. To sign up for the basket workshop (fee $15), call 335-9975.

The core message of the RoundUp is always in its array of educational exhibits, displayed by a variety of environmental agencies and organizations, with lively hand-on exhibits attended by volunteers and agency representatives who can answer questions.

The “One Person Can Make a Difference” volunteer awards will be announced at 12 noon and then join “Russell da Rooster” and Mark Jeffers of Storybook Theatre of Hawai’i for the annual “Crowing Contest” at 12:30 pm, with child and adult categories.

The “festival with the funny name” is free and begins at 10 am and winds down at 3:30 pm. A donation of a $15 Museum membership fee (Individual or Gift) is charged for basket and lei workshops. For more information, call the Koke’e Museum at 335-9975