The people in Hawaii with diverse ethnicity celebrate Christmas and New Year in their own ways. Each group has its own culture and traditions so that the celebrations will be of different nature from place to place. While some of the people celebrate Christmas as a religious festival there are many people here who celebrate Christmas as a social festival.
Music accompanied by guitar and ukelele is common for all types of celebrations. The bands perform singing of Hawaiian carols and they mainly use guitar and ukelele. Most of the families go to the beach as a part of Christmas celebration. Those who go to the beach are dressed in bikinis and shorts and Santa Hats and leis characterize the occasion. At the beach many people go for surfing and swimming also.
The Christmas celebration in Makawao is very popular. The decorations in Hawaii during Christmas festival are unique. The exclusive decorations make the Hawaiian Christmas trees quite different from the Christmas trees in other places. Handmade ornaments and decorative items are sold in the market during the festival season. Kukui nuts are used to make the ornaments. People adore their Christmas trees with Poinsettias and artificial flowers made of silk. The Poinsettia trees in Hawaii bloom during the Christmas season.
Unique Hawaiian Christmas traditions
The people of Hawaii start making their Christmas trees well in advance of the festival. They make use of special varieties of trees such as firs and pine. The people here either use the trees that are grown in the backyard or import the trees during the Christmas season. The people of Hawaii apply their own creativity to make the Christmas trees. Some people convert the palm trees into Christmas trees by decorating them. Here Santa Clause is provided with canoe and dolphins. The Hawaiian Santa is dressed in specially made Aloha shirts.
The Christmas dinner in Hawaii consists of a mass luau in which roasted pig and leis are served. Apart from the roasted pork and turkey the other Hawaiian specialties include fruitcakes, candy, lumpia, tamales, sushi, etc. The Santa Claus appears in special Hawaiian attire and he is with barefoot.
The people participate in the grand vehicle parade in which everyone decorates his vehicle with hundreds of color lights and parades the vehicle along the streets. But for the various traditional as well as cultural programs, Christmas celebration in Hawaii is similar to the celebrations in other parts of the world.
The Hawaiian Christmas Holidays
Those who plan to visit Hawaii along with the family during the Christmas holidays may reserve in advance the luxury resorts that provide the best facilities for family. The visitors can enjoy the outdoor games and sight-seeing trips arranged by the resorts. Those who want to spend their Hawaiian holidays for shopping as well as nightclub enjoyment may opt for accommodation either in Honolulu or in Waikiki.
The visitors may identify the island of their choice and also decide the number of days of stay in advance. Those who want to visit the parks, beaches and various landmarks can go for rental cars. The visitors have the opportunity to enjoy different types of celebrations in each island. The tourists may make their airline as well as hotel booking about six months in advance so as to avail the special discounts and get the most competitive rates.