Hawaiian Festival draws thousands to Lake Las Vegas

By Cydney Cappello

Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008 | 1:45 a.m.

Thousands gathered Saturday at the MonteLago Village Marina at Lake Las Vegas for the seventh annual Outrigger Canoe Regatta, which runs through today.

The annual event, which is sponsored by the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club, hosted about 5,000 visitors and 18 teams of competitors, organizers said.

“What makes our regatta unique is that we turned it into a festival, so it’s not just meets, but we actually have a cultural festival going on,” said Tieri Pa’aLana Bissen, of the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club.

Of the 18 teams competing in the regatta, two were from Las Vegas. The others hailed from all over – including 11 from Arizona, three from Hawaii and three from Canada.

“We actually do six races a year: three in California, one in Arizona, one in Hawaii and one in Las Vegas,” Southern Nevada Outrigger Team captain Dave Balowra said.

Although the team finished third in the competition, Balowra said it just came out to have fun.

The outrigger canoe is different than a regular canoe in that it is narrower and has an outrigger attached for extra balance. The races are also different in that the crews have six members, including one who calls out changes in paddling.

The races, however, aren’t the only draw at the festival. Dancers and cultural booths with everything from event T-shirts to Hawaiian leis abound.

The booths aren’t only there for the visitors.

“Sometimes, some of the dancers, they forget part of their costumes, so they come running to us for a lei or a wrap-around,” said Cecilia Slade, owner of Slade’s Polynesian Crafts Shop in Summerlin. “They prefer for us to come to the event because we are local and the majority of what we sell pertains to the event as well.”

Tevakanui, a Las Vegas-based dance group that was one of several showing its skills throughout the day, performed the Tahitian hip-movement dance, otea.

“The otea is more about celebration and fun. It’s the combination of Tahitian and Cook Islands, where the heartbeat of the drum is joy,” dance group leader Yvette Hualani George said.

There were also self-defense demonstrations, including lua, which is a form of self-defense unique to Hawaiian culture and new to the festival this year.

The event featured a raffle that funds the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club’s scholarships for graduating seniors and graduate students. Kathee Tobin, a member of the club’s board of director, said she expected about 100 tickets to be sold during the weekend.

The festival will come to a close at 3:30 p.m. today. The event and parking are free.