Do it: Midsummer Night’s Gleam, Haleiwa arts, ukulele music

SATURDAY

>> Midsummer event returns to Foster Botanical Garden

Foster Botanical Garden lights up again with the annual Midsummer Night’s Gleam, after taking a year off to allow for repairs on the garden’s upper terrace.

The garden will glow with the warmth of summer as the paths and trees will be lined by thousands of lights, bringing a touch of fantasy to the garden’s 14 acres. The theme of this year’s event is “A Night of a Thousand Stars.” To enhance the experience, visitors are encouraged to dress as their favorite “Star Wars” character. For the Jedi knights among you, there will be a lightsaber academy to test your mettle.

The fun gets started early, with keiki activities running from 4 to 6:30 p.m. with painting, games, bubbles, and arts and crafts.

The garden is the site of some of Oahu’s oldest trees, planted there by Dr. William Hillebrand, a botanist and physician who leased the land from Queen Kalama in 1853. Some of the more interesting trees there include the bodhi or bo tree, revered in the Buddhist faith, the “cannonball tree” — you’ll understand the name when you see it — and the beautiful golden trumpet tree from Brazil.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

>> Explore local artists at North Shore event

Art lovers should head to the North Shore this weekend, where dozens of artists will converge at the Haleiwa Arts Festival to display, discuss and possibly sell their masterpieces.

“This is our 20th annual festival, so that’s a big one,” said Kathleen Ells, executive director of the festival. “We feature about 120 juried visual artists as well as musicians, singers, dancers, student art.”

Being on the North Shore, much of the artwork reflects a surf or Hawaii-related theme, she said. This year’s featured items include a T-shirt by Heather Brown depicting a surfer shredding a wave; a tote by Miriam Engel featuring tropical plant life; and a scene of Waimea Bay on the festival poster by Lynn Boyer, pictured. “She was a big-wave surfer but she’s retired from that,” Ells said. “She does beautiful work.”

The festival is a great opportunity to meet the artists, who are required to attend. While the artists get to keep all proceeds from sales, they pay fees to the festival organization, which also gets grants to fund the event. Any excess amount goes to local school and community arts programs, Ells said.

About 10,000 people are expected to attend the two-day festival, and organizers hope to make it “green.” People are encouraged to bring their own eco-friendly water containers — fill-ups are available for free. “We aim for a zero-waste event, but we’re not quite there yet,” she said.

A dozen vendors will be serving food, and there will be two full days of entertainment. “We have everything from bagpipes (10 a.m. Saturday) to Barry Flanagan from Hapa (4 p.m. Saturday),” Ells said. Other performers of note include guitarist Ian O’Sullivan (11 a.m. Sunday) and Tavana (4 p.m. Sunday).

SUNDAY

>> Ukulele festival has global mix of musicians

Musicians from Hawaii, the mainland and five foreign nations will play for ukulele fans this weekend as Roy Sakuma presents the 47th Annual Ukulele Festival — with more than six hours of music — Sunday at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand. Festival headliner Herb “Ohta-san” Ohta, pictured, tops a bill that includes Hawaii virtuosos Willie K, Herb Ohta Jr. and Kamakakehau Fernandez, and performers from Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Virginia.

Sakuma created the festival in 1970 and has kept it going ever since; he and Danny Kaleikini have co-emceed the event since 1972, presenting ukulele players from locales as distant as Thailand and Italy. It’s become a tradition that all of Sakuma’s students perform at the festival as well, so the program will include the Roy Sakuma 700-piece Ukulele Band.

The celebration of all things ukulele begins at 5:30 p.m. today, with the Eighth Annual Ukulele Festival Hawaii Gala at the Ala Moana Hotel. The event honors Herb “Ohta-san” Ohta and the late Eddie Kamae for their lifetime achievements as musicians, recording artists, teachers and promoters of the ukulele. Kamae was one of Hawaii’s foremost ukulele virtuosos when he shared his knowledge with Ohta, who then took on Sakuma as a protege. The gala is $95, which includes a buffet dinner. Visit ukulelefestivalhawaii.org or call 253-8628 for information.

THURSDAY-JULY 22

>> Lili‘uokalani competition features more than 400 dancers

The 42nd annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Competition dances its way into Blaisdell Arena next week. Presented by the Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society, the competition provides children ages 5 to 12 a venue to showcase their achievements in hula.

The Kalihi-Palama Culture & Arts Society organized the first festival in 1976 to allow keiki to demonstrate their hula skills and to honor Queen Lili‘uokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch. It was held at Aala Park and featured six hula groups competing in the keiki hula auana competition, along with multiethnic dance performances and a pageant.

The event has since expanded to include 400 dancers from 23 halau representing Oahu, Maui, Kauai, the Big Island and Japan.

Thursday’s highlight is the Miss & Master Keiki Hula competition for solo dancers. Group competition in hula kahiko (traditional) follows on July 21, with hula auana (contemporary) on July 22.