After a 3-year pandemic pause, a paniolo tradition returns to Maui

MAKAWAO (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Makawao parade and rodeo is something the entire Maui community looks forward to.

“I’m excited because we love our parade. We love Makawao town, and the parade has been a special part of it,” said former Makawao parade Chair Duane Hamamura.

Each year, the kids kick off the parade with a signature stick-horse race, followed by the town’s famous Fourth of July rodeo.

But the parade in the historic paniolo town has been on pause for three years because of the pandemic.

Organizers are excited to welcome it back this year.

“We want to draw people to our community, to our town, and give our merchants the opportunity to have more people in the town, especially from the pandemic, it’s been really hard on a lot of people,” said new Makawao parade Chair Michael Du Pont.

Organizers are doing things a little different this time around.

The parade will be held on June 24, a week prior to the rodeo. The rodeo will be held from June 30 to July 2.

The idea is to allow rodeo participants to also participate in the parade.

“Our parade has a lot of horseback riders and that’s what people really love to see,” Hamamura said. “Our last parade, we had 70 horseback riders, and this year will be more.”

Throughout the week, there will be a series of fun events the whole community can get involved in.

“Stopwatch on the 27th, the chili contest on the 28th and we’re working on the other days for the week,” Du Pont said. “We are looking for more participants.”

For more information, please email info@makawaoparade.com.

For information on tickets, click here.

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