Each June, one of the world’s foremost tiki-revival events, the Hukilau, drops anchor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The four-day festival, now in its 19th year, draws over 800 attendees and was named one of the top 20 spirits and cocktail festivals in the country. It reflects a comeback of the 1950s Polynesian subculture that is re-appearing in home tiki bars, new tiki-themed establishments and even a good number of vintage RVs.
If you are picturing nearly a thousand people congregating around a cheesy hotel pool bar listening to steel drum music, you don’t quite have the right image. First off, Hukilau celebrates a significant piece of 20th-century popular culture that predates WWII. Besides, it’s about the South Pacific, not the Caribbean. Perhaps a little history lesson is in order.
Starting in California in the 1930s with the openings of Don the Beachcomber in Los Angeles and Trader Vic’s in Oakland, tiki culture indulged peoples’ love for the tropics. Tiki’s popularity grew after World War II when American GI’s, once stationed in the Pacific, tried recreating the tropics back home. Hawaii’s statehood in 1959 provided another boost. Americans fell in love with the South Seas and what is now called Polynesian Popular style became fashionable in everything from attire to restaurants. Architects designed Oceanic-style buildings, bamboo furniture became fashionable, and Polynesian themes even hit Hollywood (think McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island).
Yet, just as quickly as tiki style spread in the 1950s and 60s, it faded in the 1970s. By the 1980s Polynesian influences had nearly vanished, and once-trendy establishments closed in droves. But, tiki got resurrected in the 1990s. Enthusiasts started piecing together remnants of the culture, snatching up tiki mugs and carvings salvaged from restaurants, rediscovering exotica music from artists like Martin Denny, and adding new elements like nautical and surf themes.
The revival has spawned the opening of new tiki-themed establishments in a dozen states and more importantly, has resurrected interest in those that survived. One of them, Fort Lauderdale’s Mai Kai restaurant is considered among the finest tiki palaces ever built. Inside, the Molokai Bar serves 51 iconic tiki cocktails in digs that were originally the movie set from Mutiny on the Bounty. Outside, a lush Oceanic garden filled with tiki carvings and waterfalls is pure escapism. The Mai Kai gets entirely booked for Hukilau on Saturday for two reservation-only Polynesian dinner shows and the crowd returns there on Sunday for the grand finale.
There be mermaids!! At the Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale [Photo by William Flood]
Then, there’s the former Yankee Clipper hotel (today’s B Ocean Resort) that rises like the bow of a huge ship on Fort Lauderdale beach. Built in 1956, its history nearly rivals the Mai Kai’s. Hukilau attendees flock to the famous Wreck Bar with its underwater views and retro-revival mermaid shows by Medusirena and her Aquaticats.
Home port for the festival has been the Hyatt Pier 66; a mid-century monolith looking like it stepped out of the Jetson’s backyard. Hukilau nearly takes over the property, inside and out. In the Crystal Ballroom, the Tiki Bazaar provides a retro shopping paradise throughout the event. Over three dozen mid-century dealers and tiki-revival artists sell everything from carvings and bar-ware to retro-inspired paintings. Tiki mugs sound a siren call and nearly every dealer has pieces whether they’re from long-lost restaurants or new ones handcrafted by popular artists.
Many vendors, like Aloha Art and Alligators from Inglis Florida, have a cross-section of tiki and mid-century merchandise. Her always-popular booth is stocked with a collection of Florida kitsch and Hawaiiana. Owner Freda Nichols said, “I’ve been an antique dealer for two decades and have sold at the Hukilau for half of that.”
No doubt, it’s shopping nirvana when an antique dealer’s first words are, “Would you like some rum punch?” It was Mike Gill, another dealer in the popular mid-century niche. His wife Janet is an artist who can festoon seemingly ordinary objects turning them into Polynesian treasures. “We’ve been antique dealers for 40 years,” Mike said, “And vendors at Hukilau for 5 years.”
Tiki artists like Janet and South Florida’s Robert Jimenez help fuel the revival with modern pieces edifying the past. Robert is a nationally-known painter who’s done shows from Florida to California. His work has appeared on everything from album covers to collector cards. Mark Thompson aka Topes Art drove halfway across the country from Detroit to sell his work. His edgy lowbrow and hot rod pieces are popular and sold quickly. He joked, “I set up on Thursday morning. I vend all night and will squeeze a little Mai Kai beforehand. It’s another day at the office!”
Rum is a noteworthy part of tiki’s heritage and it’s no surprise that it shows up everywhere at Hukilau. Whether it’s poolside, at the bazaar, or at the various parties, ticket holders can partake of free samples and cocktails from many of the world’s best tiki bars and high-profile rum makers. Akron, Ohio’s Tiki Underground was one of the dozen or so bars serving poolside. Co-owner Jessie Coffey said, “Day two was beyond what we could have imagined; we served 600 cocktails at two events, ran out of all the drinks, enjoyed kick ass music, and met some wonderful people.”
Nightly, there are parties to attend featuring bands and DJ’s like The Hula Girls and The Intoxicators playing everything from mid-century exotica to surf music. One sellout event, the Tiki Tower Takeover was held in the spired, rotating restaurant atop Pier 66. It was abuzz with The Women Who Tiki, featuring eight of the best female bartenders in the country who served up signature cocktails.
When not shopping for treasures or imbibing, there are educational seminars on tiki culture and history, tiki-themed craft classes, and mixology workshops to enjoy. This year, participants could make a fish float necklace, hand-carve a tiki pendant, or even paint their own black velvet creation. Modern history lovers hit symposiums like The Art of Trader Vic’s, The Women of the Mail Kai, and one on the history of surf music that dove into such esoterica as “what makes a guitar chord a surf chord.”
Cocktail culture and education mesh in classes about rum blending, outfitting a home tiki bar, and even garnishing drinks. Ian Burrell, a colorful figure from the U.K who has established himself as a global rum ambassador, presented a handful of educational seminars on his beloved libation. He began with some basics, “Rum must be made from sugar cane, but not all sugarcane spirits are rum.” He went on to contrast the various distilling methods used worldwide. On Sunday, he presented the $1,000 Rum Tasting, in which attendees sampled seven rums that would sell at a combined cost of over $1,000.
The Hukilau has not yet announced dates for 2020. Alas, this year’s festival was the last event for Pier 66, which began a multi-year redevelopment project right after Hukilau concluded. For 2020, Richard Oneslager, Hukilau’s promoter will be seeking new digs, at least for a few years. He acknowledged, “I do think it’s the end of an era at Pier 66 and it’s special that we got to cap it off.” But, he affirmed, “There should be no uncertainty that we will have a great venue for 2020.”
Mahalo…