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This year's organizers:


Tiki Kiliki and Swanky

Swanky has gravitated to the Atomic Age from his earliest days in the thrift stores. It grew into a collection of lamps, radios, furntiure, clothing and music. Exotica is a musical world where lounge meets Polynesia. That's something he can embrace, as he has his feet in many vintage camps. Polynesian Pop was a blend of the Islands and downtown America, and the kitsch crossroads are a wonderful part of Hukilau in his vision. Swanky is a founder and creater of Hukilau. His personal website and internet radio broadcast is at SwankPad.org

Tiki Kiliki has been collecting tiki ephemera for decades and bringing together the many facets of vintage culture is not just part of her personal life, but a part of Hukilau under her direction. The preservation and enjoyemnt of tiki, is a part of her love of all things vintage. Kiliki was a primary organizer of Hukilau 2002. From picking the venues to booking the bands, she helped bring it all together. So it's been a great pleasure for her to have the enthusiastic and energetic help of Bre-elle and Tristan to bring Hukilau to Florida.


Tiki Bree and Trader Trick

Bre-elle was Tiki initiated at the tender age of 10 when she fell in love with and purchased (with her allowance money) a "lucky Tiki God Bracelet" at the local Kresgee store. Growing up in I Dream of Jeanie-land further added to her tiki and Florida roadside attraction experiences. She reveled in retro culture by opening one of Orlando's first vintage clothing stores. Later she (with the help of Tristan's skilled songwriting) formed Fuchsia Poshette, the Goddesses of Mod Rock, a trio of super mod ultra vixens that brought, for the first time, Carnaby Street MOD music and dance  to central Florida audiences. Bre-elle is giddy with excitement to be assisting with this year's Hukilau and sharing tiki bliss with other aficionados at her favorite venue, the Mai Kai.  

Tristan is related to Tiki by marriage. Bre-elle started filling the house with Tikis and Tiki artifacts and Tiki everythings and through a combination of osmosis and lotsa rum, Tiki consciousness began to set in. He had a great time at last year's Hukilau and was only too happy to accept the Academy's nomination to serve on this year's Hukilau committee.

History of the event

Hukilau started as a few people on the Tiki Central message board discussed gathering at Trader Vic's in Atlanta . We thought it would be fun to have more for them to do than just hang out at Trader Vic's, so we ended up with a full 3 days of fun. The reaction and excitement was phenomenal! All the venues had to turn people away, as the crowds poured in. It also sparked a fire in many in Florida and around the East to do more. And an annual Tiki Gala was born!

A Hukilau is a traditional Hawaiian community fishing gathering. A large net is thrown into the sea and the people "herd" the fish into the net and then they all slowly pull the net to shore. Our Hukilau is a net thrown out to all the world, bringing the lovers of Polynesian culture together for our own celebration.

Click to learn more about Hukilau 2002

Click the link above to hear the sounds of Exotica



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