Local avocados are the star of the show at the fourth annual Hawai’i Avocado Festival on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 9:00 to 5:00 pm. The free community, Zero Waste event is at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden on Hwy. 11 and offers a wealth of activities for attendees of all ages.
Fun and informative festivities include demonstrations on avocado grafting and growing, an avocado recipe contest, free guacamole sampling, farmer’s market, arts and crafts, healing arts, agriculture and sustainable living displays, a green fashion show, raffle benefit for Innovations Public Charter School, exciting keiki games, healthy organic foods and a beverage booth serving refreshing smoothies, juices and kava drinks and a chic green fashion show, a living Eco Village pavilion, a silent auction presented by Innovations Public Charter School, arts and crafts, healing arts, sustainable living displays and exciting keiki games.
Experts with UHʼs College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and the HawaiÊ»i Tropical Fruit Growers Assoc. will host demonstrations on avocado culture, including growing varieties suited to HawaiÊ»i, plus grafting techniques, organic management and bee keeping and pollination. Also on tap is a panel discussion, “Putting the Culture Back into Agriculture.”
New to this yearʼs festival is a demonstration of “figure casting” by Josef Hadley aka Brudajo. Also on display will be original festival art by Shirley Pu Wills, a Chinese brush painting titled “Avocadoes in the Breeze.” The art will be sold on prints and T-shirts and Wills will be available to sign prints.
For information, contact Randyl Rupar at (808) 936-5233 or randyldna@earthlink.net, or visit www.manakeasanctuary.org.