Maui Culture – You Can’t Get Enough

Maui Arts & Cultural Center

Don’t be a carpetbagger and visit Maui without learning something about Hawaiian and Maui culture – lucky for you there are many places to pickup some culture while staying on Maui.  Try to imagine life on Maui without the Maui Arts & Cultural Center; It can’t be done.

Celebrating its 16th anniversary this year, the MACC is the undisputed cultural center of Maui.

It will come as no surprise to island residents, who have seen their children grow up dancing hula, or ballet, in the studios, then have watched many of the greatest dance artists in the world set foot on the same stage in Castle Theater.

“On behalf of all of us at the Maui Arts &Cultural Center, we are happy that our community enjoys the wide spectrum of programs we offer,” says Hokulani Holt, kumu hula and the MACC’s director of cultural programs.

“We invite our friends and neighbors to come and enjoy some familiar or new experiences with us.Mahalo for this great honor.”

With a leadership change this summer that made Art Vento executive vice-president of operations and Teri Freitas Gorman executive vice-president of external affairs, the center’s tastes are as far-ranging and diverse as its multi-ethnic island home.

Popular artists like Jimmy Buffet, Journey or Sheryl Crow have packed the outdoor amphitheaters in recent months with crowds approaching 4,000. The moon, the palm trees and the balmy night air add their own contributions, making the experience unique for the artists as well as the audience.

In the mean time, the annual season presented by the MACC has brought the wide world of culture to our shores, from classical and jazz giants to artists sharing the distinctive voices of their distant homelands.

Hawaiian culture—its dance, its music, its mana—has long been the bedrock of theMACC’s programming, fromits Ho‘onanea Music Series to its free Ki Ho‘alu (Slack Key) Festival, sponsored by The Maui News.

“Since opening in May of 1994, the MauiArts&Cultural Center has welcomed more than 3.2million people,” notes Freitas Gorman. “MACC is also Maui’s largest classroom with more than 21,000 students annually learning through its Can Do!Days and arts education programs. Last year alone, nearly 236,000 people participated in over 1,000 activities including performances, films, exhibits, classes, teacher workshops, student band concerts and amphitheater events. The Center’s visionary inaugural slogan, ‘It’s for all of us,’ has certainly become a reality.”

First Place:
The MACC
One CameronWay
Kahului, Maui
808-242-7469

Second Place:
Old Lahaina Luau
1251 Front St.
Lahaina, Maui
808-667-1998

Third Place:
‘Ulalena
Maui Theatre
Old Lahaina Center
Lahaina, Maui
808-661-9913