All Kinds of Banana Tastings, Banana Dishes, Banana Cook-Off and More Coming to Sunday’s Banana Festival
Plus DIY banana art, banana plants, banana growing tips (and yes, even more), at Windward Community College on Oct. 20.
Photo: Courtesy of @hawaiibananasource
After two years on the North Shore, Ka Mai‘a Ho‘olaule‘a, the island’s third annual Banana Festival, is moving closer to Honolulu. The four-hour fest this Sunday at Windward Community College promises plenty of bananas—as in banana creations by buzzy local chefs, a banana recipe cook-off for home cooks and professionals and a banana tasting table with more than 10 locally grown varieties to try. Plus you can buy banana plants, books about bananas and even more banana dishes from local vendors.
‘There‘s a whole slew of Hawaiian bananas that are canoe crops,” says Laurie Carlson of Slow Food O‘ahu, which is organizing the festival with Hawai‘i Banana Source. “Some of them taste more like bananas than others. I just harvested what I call red Cubans, red-fleshed bananas. To me, that banana is so banana-ey. Fruity and sweet, deeply delicious, great texture. Another one, the Iholena, is orange inside and has beta carotene. It tastes a little bit like carrots to me.”
SEE ALSO: We Tried 10 Kinds of Local Bananas (Because We Could)
Actually, hundreds of banana varieties grow in Hawai‘i. More than 150 are at Hawai‘i Banana Source, whose founder, Gabe Sachter-Smith, is giving a talk on banana lore and growing tips at 9 a.m. this Sunday, right before the Banana Festival opens at 10 a.m. Sachter-Smith’s global reputation for identifying and discovering banana types in Africa, China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands was written up in a New York Times profile last month. He’s supplying the banana varieties you’ll get to taste.
Photo: Christi Young
What else? You’ll need a ticket for admission—it’s $10 online (through Oct. 19), $12 at the door, and kids 12 and under are free. That ticket also gets you free samples of banana dishes by Nami Kaze, Koko Head Café and Sweet Land Farms, plus Sachter-Smith’s aunty’s banana flower adobo. Additionally, it includes workshops to create art using parts of the banana plant (bring your own T-shirt or tote bag or buy a blank at the festival) and demonstrations of banana fiber weaving and dyeing patterns on kapa with purple Fe‘i banana sap.
If you want to enter the Great Banana Cook-Off, there are four categories: savory main course, pūpū, banana flower and dessert (but no banana bread). There’s no entry fee, and you can enter as many recipes as you like. Prizes include gift certificates and Ho‘okua‘āina fresh poi. Register online.
Ka Mai‘a Ho‘olaule‘a, Banana Festival
When: Sunday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; banana talk starts at 9 a.m.
Where: Windward Community College, 45-720 Kea‘ahala Road, Kāne‘ohe
Tickets: $10 online presale through Oct. 19, $12 at the door, kids 12 and under free
Info: slowfoodoahu.com/bananafest, @hawaiibananasource
