Feb. 2003 at BellyAcres on the Big Island of Hawaii

(Go here to get a great video of the festival from Alan Plotkin.  See the 3-minute opening montage online!)

We started the festival this year with a BellyAcres tour and treasure hunt.  The team gathering the most letters for the puzzle won.  Then the letters were assembled for a message about the festival.

Daytime activities included an impromptu club spinning workshop, t-shirt painting, face painting, spluntz making, dancing workshops and just hanging out.

The Ledge World Championships were held at Mr. String's house.  Jason Rodgers was the winner and was awarded his trophy at the Renegade show on Monday night.

On Friday we hiked with Henrik and Tim to New Beach and Fox's Landing.  We climbed through a tiny hole in the earth into an old lava tube and then through the dark tube to the sea.

On Friday night the band El Leo played great music while everyone danced and juggled the night away.  On Saturday morning we participated in a peace rally in Hilo.

The beauty of the islands was evident throughout the week with magnificent sunsets and rainbows.

The public show on Saturday included music, juggling, acrobatics,  comedy and fire juggling at the end.

Several groups sailed with Captain Kiko in Hilo Bay on Thursday and Sunday.  Some groups spotted whales, others saw outrigger kayaks.

On Sunday afternoon we went to Green Lake where we swam and jumped from a Tarzan rope swing into the lake.  Another activity that day was drumming and jamming on Kehena Beach.

Monday afternoon was the big Volleyclub Tournament.  Festival attendees and Seaview residents all turned out to cheer the teams to victory.  The winning team was Ayla and Sasha.

The Renegade Show was Monday night.  Jenny was the MC, Graham and Tom were sound technicians.  Henrik awarded the treasure hunt prize (a pair of snow skis) to the winning team.  Later in the show they sawed the skis into multiple pieces so they could each take home part of the prize!

On the last morning of the festival we ate a leisurely brunch.   The meals this year were fantastic, all very well planned and prepared by Stacey and her crew.  We also planted coconut palm trees near the camping area on our last day.

The lava was flowing on the surface from Kilauea this year, but the road was closed from brushfires on Sunday when we planned to go.   On Tuesday evening after the festival nine of us took cars and drove through Volcanoes National Park and down the Chain of Craters Road to see the lava at dusk.  We were amazed to get within about 50 yards of the red-hot stream of lava flowing into the ocean.  We were so close that you could feel the heat and smell the fumes.  We touched the warm lava that had flowed over the road just five days before.  It's an experience we won't forget.

Aloha!  See you again next year.

Photos by Joyce Howard, Ilse Beers and Brad Westervelt

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