May 1st is Lei Day in Hawaii
This year will be celebrating the 76th annual Lei Day in the Hawaiian Islands.
The tradition started on May 1, 1928 by a writer, Grace Tower Warren. Encouraging everyone to wear tropical Hawaiian flower lei on this special day. It is now an official Hawaiian holiday, celebrated with cultural treats of Hawaiian music; food, Hula and lei design contests.
“In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and native Hawaiian culture in particular. While it was invented by a poet and a local newspaper columnist in the 1920s, it has since been adopted by state and local government as well as by the residents, and has taken on a sense of general spring celebration there. The first Lei Day was proposed in 1926 in Honolulu. Leonard “Red” and Ruth Hawk composed “May Day is Lei Day in Hawai’i,” the traditional holiday song. Originally it was a contemporary fox trot, later rearranged as the Hawaiian hula song performed today." - Vernon BrownIf you are visiting the islands on the first of May, make sure you check with the local newspaper for Lei Day celebrations. Order your leis with flowers from Hawaii.