Saturday Briefing

By Nancy Daniels

If you can’t start your day without that daily cup of coffee, you’ll be abuzz about the coffee-laced events being planned at Keauhou Beach Resort this November 11 and 12, as part of the 39th annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival. Celebrating the Big Island’s 181-year coffee tradition, this year’s festival theme is “Kona Coffee - Aroma of Aloha.”

A gala dining event, art competitions, and exhibits are among the java-jolting fun into which travelers bound for Hawaii’s Big Island can dunk themselves.

One of the highlights will be the Kona Coffee Council Dinner & Benefit Auction at the Keauhou Beach Resort on Thursday, November 12, at 6 p.m. This social gathering is hosted by insiders of the Kona coffee industry and will include a buffet dinner, silent auction, and live entertainment. Everyone is welcome. Tickets are $45 per person. For reservations or more information, call (808) 322-6575.

Cupping Judge David Holfve

Daytime activities at the hotel will include the Gevalia Kona Cupping Competition at which the nation’s top Kona Coffee farmers vie for the honor of having grown the finest of coffee beans. An international panel of experts judge entries, all of whom must have been grown in the fertile Kona coffee belt. This free event is open to spectators, with the preliminary event on November 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the finals from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on November 12.

The hotel will also be the host site of several art exhibits, November 10-15. The romance of the Kona coffee lifestyle will be depicted in artwork during the Gevalia Kona Coffee Art Exhibit on November 11 and 12. The artwork will be offered for sale by local artists, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite piece as part of the People’s Choice award.

Also on November 11 and 12 will be the Keauhou Resort Kona Coffee Label & Website Competition, which awards unique, creative marketing that generates sales for Kona coffee farmers. Cash prizes and awards will be given in both categories.

Rounding out the art exhibits on November 11 and 12 will be the Kona Coffee Quilt Contest and Show, with entrants creatively interpreting Kona coffee through the art of quilt making.

The three art exhibits will be available for public viewing from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on November 11 and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on November 12.

The coffee-inspired activities taking place at Keauhou Beach Resort are part of the Big Island’s award-winning Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, Hawaii’s oldest and most successful food festival in Hawaii, scheduled for November 6 to 15, 2009, at various Big Island venues. For more information about the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, contact (808) 326-7820 or visit www.konacoffeefest.com.