Having fun with a Luau party

Luau: the name alone is not very familiar to a lot of people, except to countries where people actually experience it. Luau is a feast in Hawaii, although other countries like the Philippines, France and Australia have adapted to this part of Hawaiian culture. Participants eat poi, poke and lomilomi salmon, play hula hoop and limbo, and wear sunglasses and leis during a luau party.

Luau is now no longer just a feast in Hawaii. It’s now considered a party theme all over the world. You can do a luau party with your friends and family if you want to deviate from other party themes. If you haven’t heard of a luau party theme before, here are ideas on how to make your first luau party an unforgettable one.

Lots Of Luau Food

A party is never complete without food. If you are doing a luau party, it’s not enough to wear hula skirts, sarongs, shell or coconut bras and pineapple sunglasses. You should also experience the food they eat in Hawaii during a luau party. Below is a list of the type of foods you will find in a luau party:

• Laulau – Laulau means packages of banana leaves or ti leaves with taro tops, salted fish, beef and pork. You can either broil it, steam it or bake it using a ground oven.
• Poi – Poi is thinned through pounding and adding water. It is made from breadfruit, but cooked taro corns are more commonly used. Poi can be sweet and new, and it can be thin or thick. It can also be tangy and old because of fermentation. Sometimes, Hawaiians also prepare poi mai’a, which is made of water and mashed ripe bananas. Poi palaoa is another type of poi where ingredients include water and flour. Flour is stirred in hot water. You can eat this with taro poi, or eat it alone. Other types of poi are pa’i ‘uala and poi ‘ulu. The common thing about all these poi recipes is mashing. (Learn how to make Maori Poi)
• Lomilomi Salmon – When you say “lomi” in Hawaii, the people will think about mashing. With that, it is implied than lomilomi salmon is mashed salmon. Season it with sea salt, and then work with your fingers to fix the whole fish with onions and diced tomatoes.
• Poke – Poke, in Hawaii, means “slice”. Get a raw fish and slice it after gutting it across its backbone. This is the Hawaiian poke. The slices on the fish will still have bones and skins, but these are spit out after eating all the flesh. You can eat poke with inamona (roasted and crushed kukui nuts), seaweed, salt and other condiments. Poke these days is made with filleted fish, which is carefully deboned and skinned. Modern poke also has several condiments and dressings.
• Kalua Pig – To have a kalua pig recipe for your luau party, cook pork in an “imu”, or a pit oven. You will need a pua’a or a whole dressed pig, and then salt it, wrap it, cook it in a pit oven and cover it while doing so. It is called kalua because in Hawaii, this means “earth-oven cooking method”.
• More Food – If you cannot have enough Hawaiian food, then treat your guests with more food like pineapple upside-down cake, tropical punch, fruit smooothies, macadamia nuts, volcano cake, fresh fruit plate and goldfish crackers.

Surprisingly delicious meals: the Laulau

Enjoy a dish of Lomi-lomi salmon

A mouth-watering Kalua Pig for the party

What You Should Wear

Floral designs are in with Luau parties

• Pele – The pele is for the ladies out there. Wear a sarong or a grass skirt, and match it with a crown of flowers. If you decide to wear a grass skirt, you can wear a sea shell bikini top or a coconut shell top for a bra.
• Kampapua’a – With this costume, you will be wearing an amulet and a crown made of leaves. You can also wear a Hawaiian lei with an additional tusk to be placed around your neck. If you are a male, you can wear a grass skirt, since grass skirts in Hawaii are not exclusively for the girls. If you think you cannot pull that off, then a long palm leaf would suffice.
• Plastic Tiki Masks – You can look like a Hawaiian god in a laua party if you wear a plastic tiki mask. You can wear this with a bare chest and a grass skirt, meaning this look is only appropriate for males. You will have to wear a torch as you wear a plastic tiki mask, because the commercially available masks these days restrict vision.
• Accessories – For accessories, you can wear anklets, wristbands, floral crowns and Hawaiian leis. You can wear flowers like bougainvillea, orchid and hibiscus. The trick in wearing accessories is excellent color-coordination. If you do this, nothing can go wrong.
• Raffia – Raffia is a leaf used to make a grass skirt, and it comes in different thicknesses. You can wear a raffia if you do not want to wear a grass skirt with a fake grass color, like the ones that are made with straw and plastics. Pair this with a Hawaiian lei with colors that will complement your grass skirt. The advantage of raffia over straw and plastics is that it allows you to color-coordinate the skirt with the flowers on your leis. You can even match your look with amulets and a floral headband. Both men and women can wear raffia.
• Beach Wear – Some people who are attending a luau party feel reluctant about wearing a laua costume. If you do not want to wear a grass skirt, then go for simple surfing wear or beach wear. Make sure that you look like you are going to the beach, so sport a flowery Hawaiian tourist dress or shirt and match it with a lei.

Nice and sexy luau outfits for the ladies

The best luau attire gets a cool prize

Games and Activities

The Big Kahuna – This is a rather easy activity, because you will only have to sport the most colorful Hawaiian costume, or sometimes, just a shirt, to win an award.

Do the Hula Hoop – You can give an award to the person who can play the hula hoop the longest or the one who can go with the most number of hoops. When playing hula hoop, the players should wear hula skirts, which you can make from green drawstring garbage bags. Cut the bottom of the trash bags and then create tiny slits to complete the look of the hula grass skirt. The reason behind picking drawstring bags is because they’re just one size, but they can fit all. (Tips on how to hula hoop)

Check out cool Hula Hoop tricks with this video.

Can You Do the Limbo? – The limbo is a popular game in luau parties, although it originated from Trinidad. You will have to lean backward and pass under a horizontal rope or stick. While doing this, you should not touch the rope or stick, or else you’re out of the game. The challenge here is how low can you walk under the rope.

Let these kids show you how to do the Limbo.

Pineapple Bowling, Anyone? – Pineapple bowling is a popular game in luau parties. A lot of people enjoy this game because it is not everyday that you see a bowling game using pineapples as pins. You will have to bowl with coconuts when playing this, and the award goes to you if you have the best aim.

Making the Luau Party More Fun

You can give your guests something before they leave. Give them a souvenir as a token of gratitude. Luau party favors may include beach towels, sun tan lotion, blow-up beach balls, sand buckets, shovels, sunglasses and lei. It is always best to give something to your guests to let them know that their presence is very much appreciated. Then there will surely be more luau parties to come!