New Year’s in the Hawaiian Islands – Hau’oli Makahiki Hou

As 2011 winded down, another New Year celebration – Hawaiian style, is in store for both locals and visitors to Hawaii.

Hawaii has many venues with plans for wonderful New Years celebrations. Hawaii will definitely be a great holiday to spend the New Year.

Anybody lucky enough to be in Hawaii for the the New Year will experience Hawaii in all its festive glory. Enjoy the many island celebrations as well as take time to explore the ravishing beauty of the exotic islands.

The celebration of New Year in Hawaii is unique. There are the awesome fireworks displays but also more traditional events due to the cultural heritage the Hawaiian Islands offer.

In the Hawaiian language, the phrase for “Happy New Year” is “Hau’oli Makahiki Hou”.

Hawaiians celebrate this time of the year and honor the earth for the plentiful food it provides. Since it coincides with the western Christmas and New Year, it’s a special time on the islands.

This particular period of resting and feasting is called Makahiki (mah-kah-HEE- kee) and it lasted about four months in length.

During this period, historically there were no wars or conflicts. Because makahiki also means “year”, the Hawaiian phrase for “Happy New Year” became “Hau’oli (happy) Makahiki (year) Hou (new)”(how-OH-lee mah-kah-hee-kee ho).