(BIVN) – Traditional mochi pounding will return to the small village of Wailea this weekend, and the public is invited.
The 21st Annual Traditional Mochi (rice cake) Pounding for Good Luck in the New Year is a “cultural mix of everything that makes our Hawaii so special,” organizers say.
Big Island Video News last covered the event in 2015:
Video by David Corrigan, published Dec. 27, 2015.
The upcoming event will be held on Saturday, December 29th, at Akiko’s Buddhist Bed & Breakfast in the area of Hakalau. Just look for the “mochi” signs.
A publicist for Akiko’s wrote:
Akiko’s Buddhist Bed & Breakfast, over the years has become synonymous with MOCHI POUNDING. This will be our 21st year. It started as a small neighborhood gathering with 23 people, mostly neighbors, and has grown and welcomed the general public. Last year between 600-700 folks came to experience Mochi Pounding.
Experience what now has become a tradition for many locals & visitors alike, in our quaint, little plantation village, making traditional rice cakes the “old-fashioned” way. Everyone takes their turn at pounding the glutinous sticky rice for good luck. Fire building starts at 6:30 a.m. to steam the rice. Hearty local style lunch for $5. New Years crafts & calligraphy, New Year’s kadomatsu (bamboo arrangement), fortune telling, I-Ching readings, prayers and blessings, massage, Okinawan taiko drumming at NOON, Hawaiian entertainment with Lito Archangel, Jazz with Leonard Kubo & Lou Ann Gurney, and more special guest artists. A great cultural mix of everything that makes Hawaii so special.
by Big Island Video News
on at
STORY SUMMARY
WAILEA VILLAGE, Hawaiʻi - Akiko’s Buddhist Bed & Breakfast on the Hamakua Coast will be making rice cake the traditional way for good luck in the New Year.