The Maui Arts and Cultural Center will play host to two musical festivals this weekend that celebrate the island’s diverse musical heritage. Saturday night, the Castle Theater will be the locale for the Zenshin Daiko Taiko Drum Festival. Taiko transaltes roughly to broad drum in Japanese. In modern times it generally refers to drumming ensembles that play in a Japanese style. The festival is hosted by the local group Zenshin Daiko. Zenshin Daiko is an ensemble of children’s drummers aged 6-16 who have performed throughout Maui, the Hawaiian Islands and even the mainland. The will be joined by TAIKOPROJECT out of Los Angeles. This award winning ensemble is the first non-Japanese based group to win the prestigious Tokyo International Taiko. The Maui High Drum Corps will be opening the night. While they are not Taiko Drummers, the Maui High Drum Corps has won awards for excellence. The drumming starts at 7:00. Tickets for the event are $15.
Sunday afternoon, the MACC will host the Ki Ho’Alu or Slack Key Guitar Festival. The event is held out on the lawn of the A&B amphitheater, this is a fun day for the whole family as some of Hawaii’s best slack key performers gather for a free outdoor concert. This year’s line up includes HAPA, Ledward Kaapana, Makana, Dennis Kamakahi, John Cruz, Dwight Kanae, LT Smooth, Kevin & Ikaika Brown, Paul Togioka, George Kahumoku, Jr. , Noland Conjugacion, Walter Keale, Michael Ka’awa, Donald Kaulia and more. Lots of local vendors will be there with great food. The event starts at 2:00 and should run until around sunset. Bring your sunscreen, hat, blanket and low beach chairs. It should be another fun day under the sun in Maui!
