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Lihau Paik / Special to Garden Island

The number of performers at the Kilauea Christmas Concert 2020 held online due to the coronavirus pandemic varies.

Lihau Paik / Special to Garden Island

The last time Kilauea musicians performed in front of a live audience was in 2019. The annual concert attracted hundreds of people to the small town on the North Shore.

Courtesy of Anaina Hou Community Park

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro will bring his Christmas performance in Hawaii to the North Shore on Thursday, December 16.

Kilauea-North Shore is entering Christmas today, and two Kilauea event organizers started their holiday programming through virtual and face-to-face concerts.

The 7th Annual Kilauea Christmas Concert of Kaulana Kilauea, a local non-profit organization, starts at 5pm

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this popular show attracted hundreds of attendees when it was previously held in person and will be broadcast live online for the second year in a row.

Kilauea Social Club and Kupaoa are back as this year's featured bands.

"The Kilauea Social Club is great," concert founder Lihau Paik said in a recent interview. "They are all these aunts and uncles. They gather together for improvisation every week."

Paik and husband Kellen formed Kupaoa.

Participants can expect Social Club and Paiks to perform classic Christmas songs and materials from their 2015 album "Gift of the Heart", which won the Kono Award for Christmas Album of the Year at the 2016 Na Hoku of the Hawaii Recording Art Institute.

"It's all acoustic things," Lihau Paik said. "Guitar, bass and ukulele."

Participants can listen to Kilauea Christmas on Kaulana Kilauea Facebook page and kaulanakilauea.org.

The live broadcast of the concert is expected to end between 6:30 pm and 7 pm, but it will be archived for later viewing.

Also today, Grammy Award and Na Hoku Hanohano winning artist John Cruz will hold two live concerts at Anaina Hou Community Park to kick off the holiday.

Cruz will perform a free performance for keiki at the weekly Anaina Hou farmers market at 11 am. Later that day, he will hold a paid concert inspired by his latest single "It's Time to Build a Bridge" released yesterday.

"This song was written by John and his long-time writing partner Mark Hirschler, recognizing the power of empathy and finding common ground, while calling to elevate the human spirit of all of us," a press release said. "This is a positive message that is particularly relevant to the holidays."

Open at the Porter Pavilion in the park at 5 pm and the show starts at 6 pm

Pavilion seats are US$50 and lawn seats are US$40. Tickets can be purchased at anainahou.org.

Anaina Hou’s holiday activities will continue on Thursday, December 16, when Ukulele performer Jake Shimabukuro and his guests will make their debut on Shimabukuro’s holiday show "Christmas" in Hawaii.

The organizers of Anaina Hou hope to turn Shimabukuro's Christmas concert into an annual event. This year's show will include a selection of festival classics and Shimabukuro's November 2021 album "Jake & Friends", which includes artists such as Willie Nelson, Betty Midler, Jack Johnson and more.

At 5 pm, the doors of the exhibition hall are open as of press time, and only $40 lawn seat tickets can be purchased.

Kaulana Kilauea will host two events at the same time on Friday, December 17, when Santa and his carol sleigh will travel through Kilauea from 5 to 7 pm.

A map of the planned route for the happy elderly can be viewed at kaulanakilauea.org/events.

During Santa’s visit, Kaulana Kilauea board members will spend time judging the Christmas decorations in the house. The top three most festive houses will be awarded prizes as the winners of the non-profit organization's "Holiday House" lighting and decoration competition.

Finally, on Saturday, December 18th, Santa Claus will visit the Anaina Hou Farmers’ Market for free photo opportunities.

The team taking photos with Santa Claus opens on the lawn of the Porter Pavilion at 10:30 in the morning. The picture was taken from 11 am to 12:30 pm

“We hope that between the keiki concert with John Cruz, the holiday performance with Jake Shimabukuro, and the free photo with Santa Claus, there will be some kind of holiday activity for everyone to enjoy,” said Ben Karon, Anaina Hou's Director of Operations.

The contact information of reporter Scott Yunker is 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.

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