Day 16 ~ Makawao Street Fair ~ Maui, Hawaii

Day 16: Yes, I’ve been having one day of fun every week for 4 months now…a quarter of a year. Now I can honestly say, my how time flies when you’re having fun.

Last Friday evening Steven and I went up to Makawao’s Street Fair.

Love the horse sticking his tongue out.

Because of the holiday season it started with a parade that had plenty of horses, ukulele players, and Santa driving a tractor.

You may have notice the irony of the songs lyrics on the slide show, you know, the part about “oh what fun…” and all you saw were kids with expressions of embarrassment and anxiety. Couldn’t help feeling like they were going to need therapy when it was over.

Once the parade ended Maui’s creative locals emerged to share their talents; artist George Allan demonstrated his painting technique in front of View Points Gallery and Sue Perry was in front of Makawao Fine Art Gallery. Some seriously good musicians performed on both of Makawao’s streets. (There are only two streets in the town & no stoplights.)

For me, Makawao holds the upcountry paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) spirit of Maui, just as Paia embodies the soul of a surfing community. Story has it that back when Casanova’s Restaurant was Club Rodeo, cowboys would ride their horses into the building right up to the bar.

Steven with Panna, owner of Maui Hands

These days its cowboy atmosphere has merged with high-end boutiques, gift shops, galleries and several excellent restaurants.

Fine dining with our friends Rayne & Mark

We opted to purchase our dinner from one of the outdoor booths. The food was quite good, though seating wasn’t an option so we found a nice deck and plopped down.

I’ll be curious to check out one of Makawao’s Street Fairs later in the New Year, see what it’s like without the parade and holiday atmosphere.

I’d like to thank Karin for letting me know about the parade, it made the slide show a lot more fun to put together.

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For more info about Makawao & upcountry Maui check out

http://www.makawaotowncenter.com/

http://gohawaii.about.com/od/mauisights/ss/upcountry_maui_2.htm

Maui Hands http://www.mauihands.com/

Artist George Allan http://www.georgeallan.com/

View Points Gallery http://www.viewpointsgallerymaui.com/

Artist Sue Perry http://www.sueperryart.com/

Makawao Fine Art Gallery http://www.makawaofineartgallery.com/

Aloha Cowboy http://www.alohacowboy.net/