Lili‘uokalani Park and Gardens will be illuminated and filled with holiday cheer during the seventh-annual “Christmas in the Park — Garden Enchantment” this Saturday and Sunday night.
Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens is putting on the spectacle again, and most of the Banyan Drive park will be lit with thousands of Christmas lights and dressed with other holiday decorations.
Attendees are welcome to walk through the park or drive around it from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. both nights as a way to celebrate the nights before Christmas.
“Christmas in the Park — Garden Enchantment” has grown every year, and an estimated 13,500 to 15,000 people visited last year, according to K.T. Cannon-Eger, president of Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens.
“I highly recommend carpooling, because many people were unable to find parking last year to walk through the park,” Cannon-Eger said. “Council member Matt (Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder) and his wife, Dawn, of Liko Lehua Café have really taken this event and made it big. I wish to give them and their children the credit for their energy and the expansion of community involvement and lights of all kinds everywhere in the park.”
Three years ago, Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder and Backyard Monkey started the tradition of stringing lights through the park’s big monkeypod tree, which has become a focus of the event.
Every year, more of the park is lit up as more community organizations become involved. This year, Hawaiian Electric is lighting up a tree along Banyan Drive near the Okinawa haari boat enclosure.
“More lights have also been added all the way around Lihiwai Street to light edges of the entire park,” Cannon-Eger said. “Not every space is lit up, though, so we also highly suggest bringing a flashlight for the darker spots of the park.”
There will be several light displays around the park sponsored by local businesses and organizations, many of which are returning this year with larger displays and other activities.
Maunakea Observatories astronomers will set up small telescopes for star-gazing and moon-viewing on the Lihiwai Street side of the park, and the East Hawaii Lions Clubs will decorate the southern quadrant near the Lions Legacy Project.
A new addition to the event is the Big Island VW Car Club. Members will be decorating their Volkswagen vehicles and classic cars with lights.
On Saturday, kumu Moses Kaho‘okele Crabbe will open the event with a blessing between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Hula halau and choral groups will perform both nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in front of the Urasenke Tea House.
Dancers from Waiohinu Hula Studio, under kumu Lori Lei, will kick off the entertainment at 6 p.m. Saturday followed by the Volcano Festival Chorus, the Keonepoko School Chorus and the ukulele group from Aunty’s Music School.
The entertainment schedule is not set for Sunday, but to start the evening off, the public will be invited to sing together as a “pick-up chorus.”
The Grinch will be back this year for photos with keiki on Saturday, and Santa Claus will make a final appearance Sunday for last-minute Christmas wishes.
“It’s so much fun to do things in the park, since it is such a great community gathering place and cultural treasure,” Cannon-Eger said. “I enjoy being there, and I’m glad so many others do, too. I’m consistently amazed with the number of volunteers we get, and the expansion of this event has been magnificent.”
For more information about this year’s “Garden Enchantment,” as well as other events and volunteer opportunities throughout the year, visit the Friends of Lili‘uokalani Gardens page on Facebook.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.