On Saturday, April 23, 2011 from 8:30 am – 5 pm, Island X Hawaii / Old Sugar Mill Brand Coffee & Chocolate will host a celebration of North Shore grown coffee, cacao, produce, food, art, film, music, and surf industry manufacturing at an open house exhibition in the Old Sugar Mill, Waialua.
The North Shore town of Waialua was once a bustling sugar mill town producing what locals said was the “World’s Best Sugar” but in 1996 the Waialua Sugar Mill stopped production and closed its gates after over a 100 years of operation. In recent years, however, there has been a quiet resurgence of shops, businesses, and local product manufacturing that has helped transform the Old Waialua Sugar Mill into one of Oahu’s newest visitor destinations. The mill is also the processing site of Waialua Coffee and Cacao / Dole. Free mini tours of the coffee and chocolate mill as well as free Waialua Coffee samples are offered daily at Island X Hawaii. Come join us on Saturday, April 23rd, for a gathering of local art, food, music, and community groups and to celebrate the rebirth of the Old Historic Waialua Sugar Mill town.
Event Schedule and Highlights
8:30 am Waialua Farmers Co-op Market opens featuring Waialua grown fruits and veggies. The Co-op is made up of former sugar workers, growing their produce on what was previously sugar land. To see a complete listing of Co op members, please go to www.tasteofwaialua.com.
9:30 am At Island X Hawaii, the Hawaii Coffee Association and Dr. Shawn Steiman of Coffea Consulting will present a history of coffee in Hawaii and the emergence of Waialua Coffee and Cacao. Afterwards Shawn will demonstrate several different brewing methods using Waialua Coffees. Shawn Steiman, a.k.a. Dr. Coffee, will also be available to sign copies of his book, “The Hawai‘i Coffee Book: A Gourmet’s Guide from Kona to Kaua‘i”. Coffees brewed for the seminar will be available for sampling for the remainder of the event.
Free, behind the scenes Coffee & Cacao Mill Tours will be offered by “the founder of Waialua Coffee and Cacao” Mike Conway from Dole. Space for this mill tour is limited so please call Bill Martin at 779-7439 to reserve. Be sure to taste the Natural Shave Ice made from Waialua Coffee and Waialua Chocolate and other real fruits at Island X Hawaii.
The North Shore Chamber of Commerce will present a short history of the North Shore area and provide information about the Chamber’s ongoing historical North Shore tours. For more information please call (808) 637-4558 www.gonorthshore.org.
10:00 am The music starts with a performance of Makua’s (Coco Leong) Sunset Beach Elementary School Ukulele Class. This will kick off a special day of North Shore Hawaiian music, hula, and the open market exhibition of Waialua arts, crafts, food, and community groups informational booths.
A new addition to the Taste Of Waialua this year, is an all day concert stage funded by Friends For Waialua Town through a grant from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the City & County of Honolulu. Featured will be North Shore and Waialua based artists: Bla Pahinui and Friends, The Abrigo Ohana, Kalei Gamiao, Ke Kani Nahe, Halau Hula Makana a ke Aloha and Roshan & Shivani / Clear Sky.
Members of the Waialua Sugar Mill Surf industry will open their doors to visitors with Third Stone offering free tours of their surfboard factory and Sugar Mill Films hosting showings of their films Finding Aloha, North Shore Experience and Hawaii Shark Encounters.
North Shore Bath and Body offers daily tours of their soap factory and demonstrations of their soap making process.
For more information about Taste of Waialua, please contact event coordinator Bill Martin at (808) 779-7439 islandxhawaii@msn.com, www.tasteofwaialua.com, www.islandxhawaii.com
For information about the concert contact Kathleen Pahinui with Friends for Waialua Town at (808) 637-8545 pahinuik001@hawaii.rr.com, www.waialuatown.info
