WEKFEST Hawaii is one of the staffs favorite shows, for obvious reasons, who wouldn’t love tropical weather and great cars in paradise? Most of the staff arrived on Oahu early in the week for an impromptu vacation, though just because we are on vacation doesn’t mean we slack on taking photos for all of you to see.

Quickly after landing, we walked around the strip. You’ll notice the ABC Store in this photo, I’m not sure if there’s a mainland equivalent but basically they sell everything you’ll need to make your trip fun, if you’re staying in Downtown Waikiki.

Of course, we had to go to the beach, I think everyone can attest to this type of weather in February being great.

This is a statue of Duke Kahanomuku, he is equal parts Olympic swimmer, actor, surfer, and Hawaiian icon. He is credited with many things and his list of accomplishments is long, you should research him.

On a personal note, part of my family is from Hawaii, a huge chunk of my childhood was spent here. Moving into my late teens, I stopped visiting as much, so now that I’m older, I think I can truly appreciate what a huge influence the islands have had on me. Especially the sunsets.

On our second day we got shaved ice, or “shave ice” as locals say. The difference between shaved ice and snow cones is that the ice is shaved, not crushed. There are many flavors but I opted for Li Hing Mui and mochi.

 

 

This was my first time going to ‘Iolani Palace, which is the only recognized Royal palace in the United States.

The Coat of Arms

This would be their Dining Room, where they entertained Foreign Dignitaries from all around the world.

A gifted urn, to his majesty.

This guy doesn’t look too happy.

This was the King’s study/office.

The quilt that the Queen made while she was imprisoned in her own room.

The stairway made out of Koa wood, native to the Hawaiian islands.

The front of the palace

The next day after visiting Iolani Palace, we made our way to see a portion of Pow Wow Hawaii.

Pow Wow Hawaii is a “Gathering of contemporary artists that engages with the broader community in the process of creation of art.”

In a nutshell, artists from around the world came to Hawaii to do some medium to large scale murals that add even more beauty to the public landscape.

Though we technically saw a very small portion of Pow Wow Hawaii, it was truly amazing to see.

Some of the Bay Area locals might recognize Aaron De La Cruz’s work

While we were there the local elementary schools were visiting

The cool thing about this photo is it shows how much things have changed and also stayed the same. Sharing is a huge part of what makes most subcultures thrive, in the Contemporary Art world and the car culture included. You can do a quick search on #weksos or #wekfest / #wekfesthawaii on instagram and see the show through a lot of different peoples eyes, that is pretty amazing.

Photos: Jose Ontiveros

Words: Minister

Special thanks to Adam for the PowWow Hawaii tip!