More than 15 of Maui’s favorite restaurants and food purveyors will serve dishes at Lahaina Plantation Days.

LAHAINA – After seven memorable years, Lahaina Plantation Days will celebrate its finale on Oct. 16-17, 2015. This beloved event that pays homage to West Maui’s plantation roots will be held at the old Pioneer Mill Co. smokestack site next to 277 Lahainaluna Road. Event hours are 5 to 10:30 p.m. on both days. Parking is free.

Among the highlights of this not-to-be-missed event are performances by Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Ikaika Blackburn and Leohone, Ekolu trio, Willie K, Amy Hanai`ali`i, Napua Greig and Melveen Leed, along with the Zenshin Daiko Drummers.

The public will enjoy a myriad of cuisines by over 15 of Maui’s favorite restaurants and food purveyors. There will also be a beer and wine garden, MauiGrown Coffee tent, plantation art gallery featuring works by well-known local artists, keiki game zone and farmers’ market.

A Plantation Life tent will highlight cultural cuisines of this era (Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, Korean, Okinowan and Puerto Rican), along with displays of cooking implements, cooking styles, foods, preserving methods and vegetable gardens.

“These wonderful activities will be a fitting tribute to an era that has touched so many lives,” said Lahaina Restoration Foundation Executive Director Theo Morrison.

Hanai`ali`i

The Lahaina Plantation Days inaugural event kicked off ten years after the Pioneer Mill Company closed its doors in 1999, abruptly ending a plantation era (1860-1999) that impacted hundreds of workers and their families.

In 2009, Lahaina Restoration Foundation was in the process of restoring the Pioneer Mill Company smokestack to its former glory, and the nonprofit organization wanted to create an event that would pay homage to the families and the spirit of the plantation era.

“The community response and outpouring of support for this event was more than we could ever have imagined,” said Morrison.

“The plantation era is Lahaina’s most recent past, and many members of our community have strong ties to this important period of history. Through this event, we were able to collect truckloads of artifacts, raise funds for the restoration of the Pioneer Mill Company smokestack, and update historical camp maps with first-hand knowledge from the families who lived there. More importantly, we helped bring together kama`aina families and visitors to celebrate this memorable era that has defined so many of us.”

“It takes a community to build an event, and we are very appreciative of all the wonderful people who contributed in a myriad of ways to create Lahaina Plantation Days. We couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished together, and this upcoming October event will be a time to celebrate past memories and create new ones. We invite everyone to join us!”

Leed

Admission is $5; children five and younger are free. For more information, contact the Lahaina Restoration Foundation office at (808) 661-3262, e-mail info@lahainarestoration.org or visit www.lahainarestoration.org.

Lahaina Plantation Days is supported in part by Kaanapali Land Management Corp., the County of Maui Office of Economic Development and Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Lahaina Restoration Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Hawaii nonprofit organization dedicated to cooperating with all community-oriented interests in an effort to restore, maintain and preserve the physical and cultural legacies and history of the first capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Lahaina.