THE THEME of this year’s Prince Lot Hula Festival is Na Punawai O Moanalua—the wellspring of Moanalua.

"Water is a source of life," said kumu hula Leina’ala Kalama Heine, who designated the theme.

"The water feeds people, the water feeds communities, and as a resource, water feeds education and being able to feed oneself sustainably. All of life is water. Without water, there is no life."

The 33rd annual Prince Lot Hula Festival, the state’s largest noncompetitive hula event, will take place tomorrow at Moanalua Gardens.

For Heine, this year’s Prince Lot festival is especially symbolic because her halau, Na Pualei o Likolehua, will showcase eight new teachers whose students will perform for the first time. Two keiki groups—ages 3 to 6, and ages 7 to 9—will take the stage at the festival. They represent a new flow of water, or new generation of hula dancers.

The adult ladies of her halau also will dance two numbers in honor of Queen Emma, who came from the King Kalakaua lineage, as did Prince Lot. One mele, "A Kilohana," tells of the queen’s journey to Kauai.

Heine says the festival, being noncompetitive, is unique in that it allows for give-and-take between hula dancers and the audience in a more casual setting.

"You have a wonderful interaction with the audience," she said. "It’s about sharing and educating, where you’re able to explain the text that you’ll be performing."

A DOZEN halau will perform both hula kahiko and ‘auana on one of the few remaining pa hula (hula mounds) in Hawaii. Nearly a dozen vendors also will offer Hawaiian arts and crafts, from feather lei making to poi pounding and surfboard shaping.

"Some of Hawaii’s most celebrated hula halau will participate in this year’s festival," said Alika Jamile, Moanalua Gardens Foundation executive director and president. "In 2010, we have added more cultural activities to enhance the experience for visitors and local residents alike."

Local food and refreshments will be available for purchase, along with limited-edition T-shirts and souvenir buttons.

The valley of Moanalua is home to four water sources, according to kumu hula Heine, which, when flowing, signify health.

A water spring is also symbolic of the resurgence of new life, or a new start.

"When you have water energizing the loi and the kalo, you have life," she said, referring to taro patches.

The festival—named in memory of Prince Lot, who later reigned as King Kamehameha V and is credited with reviving hula in the Moanalua district—was founded by the Moanalua Gardens Foundation in 1978 and now attracts up to 10,000 residents and visitors.