Weekly updates:

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Weekly updates


Well I’m now back in Oz and back to reality… It’s like Pow Wow was some weird opium trip in an exotic den from a time long ago. The event all wrapped up with a big ol’ house party or as the locals say ‘Luau’ at Kamea’s family’s epic house where most of us were staying, up in the hills of the North Shore. The aptly named Utopium Estate, was just that. A huge house where artists and media mingled, drank, threw up, and bunked down together.  In my case it was in the ‘Aussie wing’ with the Everfresh dudes…. Kinda like having to stay in the same room with your older brother and his mates at your family holiday house who really don’t want you there but tolerate you regardless. No, I kid. It was cool and they were surprisingly clean. I’ve had to share sleeping spaces with girls for extended periods whom were far dirtier but that’s a story for another time. Ahhhh Catholic school….

But back to the party… A pig was slow cooked traditional style underground over hot coals in the yard for two days and then was brought out for the 100 plus guests that had gathered at the epic premises for the wrap up party. (The same thing went down last year and each year the pigs skull is kept and the artists the following year draw on it, see pic above. Pretty awesome tradition). The food was amazing and if I had any idea of what the official names were for anything I would repeat them but I don’t. Lots of fish, pork and amazing salads and about 40 cakes.

The luau was the perfect end to the festival. Good crew, great food and a chance to finally chill and chat with guests you’d just seen in passing throughout the last couple of days but never really had a chance to get down with. There were also many dogs. Many, many dogs. Which is always a pre requisite for a good party in my eyes.

Then the artists all got drunk and simultaneously took to drawing in books for the rest of the night but luckily I had befriended the girls with the elderflower liquer bottles by this time and I no longer required their chatter.

The party itself was symbolic of the Pow Wow event in general. Genuine, welcoming and uniquely Hawaiian… but at the same time international in flavour. Throughout my time in Hawaii I was overwhelmed by not only how great the event was but how friendly and welcoming the locals and organisers of the event were. It really made the event stand apart from others I have attended. I could really tell there was an authentic passion behind the event, a genuine want from every organizer to enhance the island they love and build and cultivate a culture and scene there. The energy was amazing…. and okay, having it situated on a tropical island made it a pretty sweet gig in itself.

I’ll end with a huge thanks and congrats to all the Pow Wow crew: Jasper, Christa, Tiffany, Kamea and Jun and of course the countless other people that no doubt chipped in.

Here’s to another great Pow Wow in 2013 and I can’t wait to hang again with some of the crew at the Carbon Festival in April. It’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later!

MAHALO.