Laupāhoehoe Music Festival: Celebrating and Supporting the Community

By Denise Laitinen

On April 23, one of the largest and most beloved annual events on the Hāmākua coast will take place at Laupāhoehoe Point Beach Park. Now in its 11th year, the Laupāhoehoe Music Festival draws residents and visitors from around the island to listen to great Hawaiian music. And it’s all for a good cause. The music festival serves as a fundraiser for local school children and kūpuna (elders) in the community.

“The festival is a beautiful way for a family to spend the day in the park,” says Niki Hubbard, governing board chairperson of the Laupāhoehoe Community Public Charter School (LCPCS), the organizers of this year’s festival. “There are games for the kids and craft vendors, plus a silent auction—people get really excited about that. It’s a great community event.”

Even though the music festival has been around for more than a decade, this is the first year that the charter school is officially managing the event. The origins of the music festival date back to 2005, when a small group of dedicated volunteers, including Hawaiian musician Braddah Smitty, got together to help the community.

At the time, Lucille Chung, who was born in Laupāhoehoe and active in the community, was planning community pool parties with Don Canario. Don worked as the Hawai‘i Police Department’s Community Policing Officer in the Laupāhoehoe district and was friends with the famous entertainer. The nephew of legendary Hawaiian musician Gabby Pahinui, Braddah Smitty, whose real name was Claybourne Smith, was a well-known slack key musician who performed with the Sons of Hawai‘i for more than two decades. He also happened to live in Laupāhoehoe.

“[Braddah Smitty] wanted to do something that helped the youth and the kūpuna in the community,” recalls Don. “His home was on a bluff overlooking Laupāhoehoe Point. Sitting in his backyard talking story, we talked about having something [in Laupāhoehoe] like the music festival they used to have in Waiki‘i. It made sense to have the festival at the Point.

“I had been hearing from Don that Braddah Smitty wanted to do a music festival,” says Lucille. “I said, ‘let’s get together and see what we can put together.’ We met in 2005. Braddah Smitty got the musicians and we got everything else,” adds Lucille.

“We came up with an organization, Malama Hawai‘i Nei, to organize the music festival,” says Don. It was a small, but dedicated group of less than a dozen people. “Aunty Lucille was the chair and handled the paperwork, Uncle Smitty handled the music, and I handled a lot of the logistics.

“I learned a lot,” continues Don. “How to build the food booths, setting up the staging, learning the process of getting permits with the building department, the fire department, all of that.”

The festival itself features a mixture of Hawaiian slack key music, performances by school groups and hula hālau. Thanks to Braddah Smitty’s efforts, over the years several award-winning performers have played at the festival, including Darlene Ahuna, Sonny Lim, Mark Yamanaka, Makana, and many others.

Both Lucille and Don say it’s a true community effort. Everyone involved donates his or her time to make the event a success. “None of us got paid for any of it—it is strictly volunteer. It’s a very small group that have put it together and held it together.”

For instance, Don, a motorcycle enthusiast, enlisted the efforts of Hui Maka‘i, a motorcycle club comprised of law enforcement officers, to help with security. Another motorcycle club, Rock and Roll, handles stage security and parking.

“We had prisoners come in to help clean the park ahead of time and then come down afterward to clean up and tear down the stages,” adds Don. “Firefighters would donate their time to volunteer to be at the medic station. Other Community Policing Officers would donate their time.”

“It just made my heart feel good that I was able to help the community,” Don adds. “I was happy to help. It’s my way of giving back to the community.

The music festival has been a success since it started. According to Lucille, the Laupāhoehoe Music Festival has generated more than $35,000 in scholarships for children in the community, including the students of Laupāhoehoe Community Public Charter School.

Funds raised through the music festival have also gone a long way in helping area seniors too. According to Don and Lucille, proceeds from the festival have purchased fans for the Laupāhoehoe Community Center where the seniors meet every Friday. Malama Hawai‘i Nei was also able to purchase a new refrigerator and stove for the seniors to use at the community center.

Over the years, Braddah Smitty became synonymous with the music festival. When he passed away in 2012, the festival continued. Lucille says that even though Braddah Smitty was no longer with them, his presence was still felt.

“The year after Braddah Smitty died, it stormed all over the island the day of the festival,” says Lucille. “I was praying as I drove to the event, please have some nice weather. People were calling me asking what was Plan B. I said, ‘bring your umbrella.’

“When I got there and we did our opening prayer, the sun came out and stayed out. People who had brought their umbrellas used them as shade against the sun.”

“That year the rain was bad in Hilo. You could see it raining up in the mountains and out over the ocean, but we had sun.

“Penny, our emcee, said at one point, ‘Braddah Smitty has the shower curtain around us.’”

Lucille says the festival ends every year with the musicians singing Hawai‘i Aloha and doing the hokey pokey dance. That particular year the rain started as soon as the festival ended. “When we sang Hawai‘i Aloha it started raining. I paused for a moment and said, ‘Brother, thank you so much for a beautiful day.’”

While Braddah Smitty’s legacy of the festival continues, time has brought changes. After eight years, Malama Hawai‘i Nei decided to move the date of the festival from February to late April. By that time, Don had retired from the police department, although he remained active volunteering with the festival. In 2014, however, both Don and Lucille decided it was time to hand over management of the music festival to the next generation.

“Don and I said we’re getting too old for this,” says Lucille. “Since the festival was a benefit for the school, it made sense that the school take over managing the festival. The school was willing and accepted the challenge.”

Last year was a transition year in which staff and volunteers from LCPCS worked with Malama Hawai‘i Nei to learn how the festival is run.

“Last year, I shadowed Aunt Lucille and Uncle Don and made sure I did it the way they did it,” says Niki. Born and raised in Laupāhoehoe, both her children attend the school.

“It’s a lot of asking friends for favors and [Don and Lucille] have a whole lot of friends. Uncle Don introduced me to people who are willing to be helpful.”

Niki and her fellow organizers say that with the changing of the guard, they are also looking to bring in a younger crowd with more contemporary music.

“We’ll have a mixture of styles; we’ll still have slack key and hālau perform,” says Niki. “But we’re also looking to include more reggae performers.”

Shantell Urbanozo, a student activity coordinator at the school, says they are extending the hours of the festival this year, from 9am–6pm in order to accommodate more music groups.

“We want to bring different musical styles to the event,” says Shantell.

Lucille says she supports the changes and the new organizers. “We’re turning it over to a younger group, and it’s their kuleana (responsibility) now. We had an older crowd in years past. Now there’s a younger group taking it on, and we’ll support them.”

The musical lineup for this year’s festival was still being confirmed as Ke Ola Magazine went to press, however Shantell says this year’s performers include Times 5 and Ho‘onanea.

Festival organizers have also expanded the amount of crafters, food vendors, and games this year.

“Last year we added on games for the kids,” says Shantell. “We’ll have ring toss, Portuguese horse shoe, a fishing game, face painting, and more.” More than 15 food vendors ranging from booths to food trucks will be on hand, as well as nearly 20 craft vendors and a silent auction.

If past festivals are any indication, organizers expect upwards of 800 people at this year’s festival.

“People from as far as Kona and Ka‘ū come. It’s great to see people have fun and just relax and enjoy the music and engage in conversations,” says Shantell. “Laupāhoehoe is a togetherness community. We really want people to come out and enjoy themselves.” ❖

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Contact Laupāhoehoe Music Festival
Photos courtesy Sarah Anderson Photography

Contact writer Denise Laitinen