Kaʻū Coffee Festival celebrates its 16th successful year

By Laura Stocker

Thanks to farmers who wanted to celebrate the fruits of their labors with their Kaʻū neighbors and the rest of the county, state and world, the 16th annual Kaʻū Coffee Festival again was a well-attended success. Gloria Camba, president of the Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative, coordinated the event.

Coffee growers decided that one of the keys to their success could be to organize and publicize their individual brands by starting the Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative. The cooperative started the Kaʻū Coffee Festival in 2009 as one way to celebrate their successes.

Ho’olaule’a, the finale for the seven-day 2025 Kaʻū Coffee Festival, was held on Saturday, May 31, back at Pahala Community Center with scores of celebrants and sight-seers attending throughout the day.

Demetrius Oliveira led the opening pule and was followed by the Keahiwai Duo, guitarists Mailani Makainai and Lei Melket of Mililani.

Two of the highlights of entertainment were Hilo Taiko and Hālau Hula o Leionālani.

Hilo Taiko drummers’ energetic drumming and animated vocal iterations were a hit.

Halau Hula O Leionālani hula dancers danced for lengthy periods to applause from the crowd and had several costume changes. Dancers’ ages ranged from seniors to teenagers and younger. In one of the performances, the younger group donned their version of grass skirts, which made their dancing more of a treat.

Other dance performances were presented by the Visayan Dancers, who presented Filipino folk dances, and Mexican dancers who added a Hawaiian twist.

Hawaiian-style music also was abundant at the finale.

Victor Chock & Friends performed with his fellow guitarist.

Coffee growers took advantage of a pause in the festivities for a group photo. They also presented their wares from booths with tasting and selling coffee varieties, as well as baked goods and candies made with their coffees.

They included A Coffee Farm, Elepoki Coffee, Ka Lae Coffee, Ka’ili, Maile Farms, Kaʻū Coffee Mill, Miranda’s, MTZ Kaʻū Coffee Farm, Navarro Farms, Pohaku Coffee, R&G Farms, Rusty’s Hawaiian Coffee, Silver Cloud Coffee Farm and The Rising Sun.

Representatives from 23 local ranches, school clubs and teams, churches and area clubs sold food, drinks, sweet treats and desserts. Other vendors were on hand with art and designs, medical practices and area businesses.

This year’s Festival started on May 25 with the open house Pāʻina & Open House and potluck at the Pāhala Plantation House, and the Kaʻū Recipe Contest at the Kaʻū Coffee Mill. Recipes had to incorporate coffee into their recipes.

This year’s first-place award was won by Joe and Christina Adriano for their Traditional Chicken Mole recipe. Ruanne Manuel of the Kaʻū Coffee Mill said that dish won because it was an original way to incorporate coffee into a recipe with chocolate.

Thirty lucky hikers were treated to the beautiful views on the hike up the Wood Valley Rain Forest on May 28, where they got to see the historic flume systems from the time of sugar cane. They also heard about hydroelectric power development and saw native flora and fauna. The hike was followed with lunch by the Kaʻū Coffee Mill.

Coffee and Cattle Day started the day on May 30 at Aikane Plantation Coffee Farm. Participants learned how the first of Kaʻū’s coffee farmers’ descendants learned how to make a success of raising cattle and producing coffee. Through the decades, those first coffee farmers passed down their ways of successfully managing the land while growing coffee in a sustainable fashion. The day was capped with a beef and Kaʻū coffee buffet.

Also on the evening of May 30, stargazers were treated to astronomers’ guide to the stars for diners at a barbecue supper at the Kaʻū Coffee Mill.