Lei Day Contest

Lei Day Contest

May 1, 2000

Honolulu Zoo

It is time for the annual Lei Day Contest. This year, the event has moved across the street to the grounds of the Honolulu Zoo. This is a fine home and the exhibit draws a large crowd. It is about a half-hour wait, at the 1 PM opening, to get to the head of the line to see the leis. The pictures shown below don't attempt to document all the winners. They are presented here simply as representatives of all of the fine leis by many accomplished lei makers. Click on a thumbnail to see a large image (usually 1600 x 1200 pixels).

All of the types of leis for the Master Division are presented first. The groupings start with the hat leis. The three top prizes for the hat leis are shown on hats. The other entrants are hung on the display boards. There is also a section of leis for the Novice Division (they are not shown here). A sign is placed next to each lei so that you know who made the lei and what flowers were used. The example below (left) is shown next to the lei that it describes (below right). This information is listed for each of the leis shown here.

Honey Justman won two hat lei awards. Her first prize is shown on the right [lehua, moa, ohelo, pa`iniu, pala`a, palapala`i, protea, kukiawe, tulip, fern heads]. Bill Char's hat lei (below left) was second place [celosia, lehua, rose, rice flower, ohai (monkey pod)]. Honey Justman's third place entry is shown below (right) [ageratum, dusty miller, globe amaranth (bozu), hydrangea, rose, Spanish moss, statice, iris, pansey, aster, companula, noni ala`a (blue salvia)].

There were a lot of leis in the orange category. The entry by Charlene Y. Choy won first place (below right) [bougainvillea, celosia, chinaman's hat, epidendrum, blobe amaranth (bozu), moa, palapala`i, rose, pakalana, croton, zinnia, calendula, harpullia, orange gesheriad flower]. Randy Akau won third place (below left) [bougainvillea, chrysanthemum, palapala`i, kikania, kukunaokala, emile, liko, solidaster, orange lehua].

These are the red leis. Norberto Cabugan, Jr. made the second place lei (below right) [chrysanthemum, epidendrum, joyweed, panax, ti, dianthus, kalanchoe, anthurium, pentas].

This is the mixed category. Renee Koyama won first place (below left and in more detail below right) [a`ali`i, crown flower, hinahina, ilima, kauna`oa, kukui, lehua, maile, moa, pa`iniu, palapala`i, rose, kului].

You can see how they display the awards for a category. The first place lei gets a big blue ribbon. The second place lei gets a red and third place a white ribbon. All the leis in every category appear to be real winners. Judging must be very difficult.
The theme leis ("The Lei of the Stringing Method") are shown to the below (left). Happy Tamanaha's entry won first place [cigar flower (kika), ola`a beauty, ohai ali`i].

The white leis were particularly beautiful. They are almost sublime with their combination of slightly different shades of white. Muriel Kaya made the first place winner (below left and in more detail below right) [chrysanthemum, dusty miller, blobe amaranth (bozu), hydrangea, pala`a fern, pukiawe, rose, statice, stephanotis, rice flower, freezia, silver tree protea, eucalyptus].

This is the grand prize winner. It was made by Leonore I. Sato [lehua, ohelo, palapala`i, pukiawe, ti].

At the end of the display, it is time to look back and see other people examining the leis. People take a great interest in the individual leis and ask the volunteers attending each category a lot of questions.
The media know about this event, of course. It was no surprise to see a camera person from a local station getting some video for the evening news. Lei sellers had tables both inside the zoo and outside along the fence. It is a good chance to pick up a lei, even if it isn't quite up to the standard of those on display.