If you’d like to experience a real Kauaiian Christmas on your vacation, then head to Kauai’s Festival of Lights. This retail-free holiday celebration is marking its 22nd year in 2018 and is where Santa’s most definitely, Gone Kauaiian.
The festival takes place in the Historic County Building and is packed top-to-bottom with amazing decorations made from recycled and reclaimed materials over the past seven months. The festival opens its doors on December 1 and runs through December 29. Entrance is free of charge.
Every year, thousands of Kauaiians and visitors walk this holiday wonderland to enjoy the creative displays of Christmas trees, wreaths, ornaments, and nativity scenes, all made from up-cycled and reusable materials. These include water bottles, aluminum cans, plastic containers, beer caps, soda cans, egg cartons and pine cones. One such decoration, called Aloha Recycled Treasures, is a decorative tree made from recycled water bottles.
This year’s feature tree is The Fire and Rain Tree, inspired by the record rainfall that hit Kauai’s North Shore in April 2018 and the volcanic eruptions from the Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii Island. Recycled forks with paper and toilet paper rolls combine to resemble fiery flames, and recycled plastic spoons represent raindrops.
In the twinkling interior, guests will find delightful Kauai-style touches – from rainbows and roosters to Hula bears and dolphins. Don’t miss “Surfin’ Santa” and the whimsical SPAM Can Tree!
Festival History
The festival, which has a history dating back over 40 years, reflects Kauai’s Aloha Spirit and is a real tribute to sustainability.
For 18 years, Kauai local Josie Chansky decorated her home in Kapaa every Christmas. It was magical and wonderful, and visitors from across the island and the world came to visit. What set Josie’s decorations apart, however, was that her decorations were not shop-bought but made from recycled materials. She turned natural objects and trash into treasure, creating ingenious and unique decorations.
When Josie’s husband, Joe, passed away in 1996, she was unable to put up her decorations and, while still grieving, sold them at a garage sale. Elizabeth Freeman, a Kauai resident, purchased over half of them for $3,000 when she realised that Kauai would lose a remarkable tradition if the decorations were sold off individually. Then, to ensure that the community would continue to enjoy the Chansky decorations, she donated the entire collection to the County of Kauai.
Mayor Maryanne Kusaka gratefully accepted the Chansky creations and asked Elizabeth, an artist and designer with a background in producing large-scale events, if she would take charge of designing and coordinating the installation. A task she has continued as a volunteer to this day.
The Historic County Building was chosen as the perfect site to showcase the decorations. In December 1997, The Festival of Lights became a reality and launched a Kauai tradition!
Continuing a legacy
As an artist and designer, Elizabeth Freeman was intent on creating a world of magical beauty for children and families. Freeman founded the event in 1997, and over the years as art director and producer of the Festival of Lights, she has showcased Auntie Josie’s unique Folk Art, created new decorations and displays and designed and overseen the delightful “Kauai-style” ornaments crafted by volunteers to fashion a Holiday tradition for Kauai uniquely her own.
Annually, Freeman oversees over a hundred volunteers, coordinating the gorgeous light display that goes up in the Historic County Building Park. She oversees the restoration of Auntie Josie’s fragile creations (some nearly 50 years old) as well as teaching students and other volunteers how to “up-cycle” trash into fabulous ornaments.
From 1997, attendance has grown from 400 to 4,000 residents and visitors who come to enjoy the dazzling display inside the Historic County Building throughout the month of December. Thousands more enjoy the gorgeous lights in the Historic County Building Park which is up until the New Year.
Although Freeman’s work has been shown through the Smithsonian and the Museum of Art and Design in New York, it is her annual installation at Kauai’s Historic County Building, of which she is most proud. As founder and art director of the Festival of Lights, she has showcased Auntie Josie’s wonderful Folk Art as well as designed and overseen the creation of remarkable “Kauai-style” displays and decorations crafted with the help of volunteers to fashion a Holiday Tradition for Kauai uniquely her own.
Freeman has continued the tradition of using recyclables as the raw material for the new Festival of Lights decorations she creates, such as those for the “If Can, Can” Tree, with every ornament made from recycled aluminum cans. Creating “something from nothing” and turning “trash into treasure” is an empowering experience that she loves to share with students and other volunteers.
Festival information
From the 1st Friday in December through the New Year, the Lights in the Historic County Building Park glow every night. The Festival of Lights “Kauai-style” interior display is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening from 6-8 PM through Christmas Eve with Santa and Mrs. Claus, with a final evening the last weekend in December.
Open 6-8 PM every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from December 1 – 29, including Christmas Eve!
Historic County Building, 4396 Rice Street, Lihue, Kauai, Questions: 808 639-8564
Guests at Ali’i Kai Resort who would like to visit the Kauai Festival of Lights can contact the concierge at the resort for further information and travel directions.
