Cultural celebration: Spirit of Polynesia comes to S.F.’s Golden Gate Park
The Abundas were just in Hawaii last month, but they wanted a taste of the island again.
So the family of four headed out to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Saturday, where they joined a host of revelers to celebrate Pacific Island Culture at Aloha Poly Fest.
“We like the whole aloha Polynesian culture,” said Wendy Abunda, 41. “It’s nice to be able to get some of it without having to fly to Hawaii.”
Saturday marked the festival’s fifth celebration of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian traditions, including song, dance and the arts. Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, Guamians, Fijians and the Maori came together under one roof, but under many flags, at the San Francisco County Fair Building.
Abunda walked between lines of booths hand-in-hand with her 4-year-old daughter while her husband, Michael Abunda, held their 8-year-old daughter’s hand.
“It feels nice to try to re-create that vacation experience,” said Michael Abunda, who is of Hawaiian heritage.
The venue housed about a dozen vendors hawking everything from shortbread cookies flavored with guava or coconut to wreaths made of leis, Hawaiian poi balls and a coconut shell purse.
The event organizer, Charles “Uncle Charlie” Hamer, quickly passed from booth to booth to ensure that everything ran smoothly.
Hamer, a 52-year-old San Francisco native, started the event as a way to share his Tongan roots apart from his souvenir shop, the Polynesian Gift Hut.
“I started this event in 2013 as a tribute to my heritage,” Hamer said. “I learned about my heritage here in San Francisco and wanted other people to learn about it.”
At Andrew KeAloha’s booth of Polynesianpatterned shoes and canvases, Santa Rosa resident Kimberly Blas showed off her Polynesian arm tattoo. Blas, who is half Guamian, said she’s thinking of the people on the island after the military posturing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“I’m just sending prayers to my family,” said Blas, 35.
“It’s crazy,” KeAloha said of the nuclear threats.
Across from them, Zaïda Bridgford sold Hawaiian-brand goods ranging from sports bags and windsurfing merchandise to board shorts and wallets designed by Tatau artists.
“It’s a way of promoting local Polynesian arts,” said Bridgford, who is Filipina. “Spreading their art far and wide.”
Within minutes, the sound system was set up and island music filled the room, a recording of a singer crooning “We are the Polynesian people. We are here to show the world that we can live in peace and harmony.”
Honolulu native George “George da Plumma” Flazer served as master of ceremonies. Flazer, now a Vallejo resident, said he was on a mission to spread “the spirit of aloha,” a way of life marked by unity, balance and joy that “starts with a smile.”
“Everybody has a path in life, and most people never find it. I’ve been blessed to find it,” Flazer said before kicking off the event.
When he got the microphone in his hands, he welcomed the crowd and began his endeavor.
“This is where our cultures come together, of all the events in the Bay Area,” he said. “I’ve been gifted with a gift from the island to share ... the gift of aloha.”