‘Aha Niu: Maui Nui Coconut Celebration Festival

SHORT: This free community gathering at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens offers your ʻohana a day to reconnect with and celebrate niu. Expect a day full of sprout/tree giveaways, family-friendly and hands-on cultural workshops, presentations, talk story and moʻolelo, food processing workshops and cooking demonstrations, food and crafts for sale, and more!

Registration required: https://bit.ly/ahaniu2026
Volunteer sign-up: https://swettehawaii.ivolunteer.com/ahaniu2026

LONG: On Saturday, June 13th, the Maui community is invited to gather at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens for a day dedicated to honoring and revitalizing niu (coconut) as a multi-use, culturally significant Hawaiian canoe plant and staple crop.
At ‘Aha Niu, cultural practitioners, farmers, educators, chefs, and families will come together for hands-on workshops, moʻolelo, and coconut-centered food and crafts. Through workshops, the whole ʻohana will have the opportunity to learn how to weave pāpale lau niu, make cordage from the husk (kaula niu), prepare ʻapu ʻawa, and plant and sprout niu (kanu niu), along with food processing and cooking demonstrations. Cultural practitioners and niu farmers will hold space for moʻolelo and conversations about stewardship and the future of niu in Hawaiʻi. Educational and non-profit booths will share information and resources, including how to identify, report, and mitigate the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB). Food and craft vendors will demonstrate niu’s versatility, highlighting traditional and contemporary uses of this staple crop. The hope is that this festival reconnects Maui Nui with niu as a living resource that nourishes, shelters, and sustains. A free niu sprout giveaway (while supplies last) will help families bring that commitment into their backyards and kitchens.

This free community gathering at Maui Nui Botanical Gardens offers your ʻohana a day to reconnect with and celebrate niu. Expect a day full of sprout/tree giveaways, family-friendly and hands-on cultural workshops, presentations, talk story and moʻolelo, food processing workshops and cooking demonstrations, food and crafts for sale, and more!

Registration required: https://bit.ly/ahaniu2026
Volunteer sign-up: https://swettehawaii.ivolunteer.com/ahaniu2026