Honolulu - Bringing in the New Year with a BANG.
Jan 01 '01 (Updated Mar 04 '01)
The Bottom Line Witness New Year's fireworks over Waikiki beach from a high-rise hotel room - or visit a valley like Palolo for the noise, smoke and excitement of firecrackers and illegal fireworks.
As one of the world's more culturally diverse cities, Honolulu is home to many different celebrations and forms of celebration throughout the year. New Year's is no exception. In particular, the influences of numerous Asian culture, and significant population segments of Asian ancestry, result in extensive use of pyrotechnics.
Traditional lunar new years like the Chinese New Year are still celebrated on their appointed dates with the detonation of strings of firecrackers (historically thought to drive away evil spirits). But the new calendar year is also celebrated with at least as much enthusiasm, noise, light and smoke.
Honolulu is certainly not the only city in the world, or even in the United States, to welcome the new year with pyrotechnics. In most other U.S. cities, though, a single carefully planned and officially sanctioned fireworks display is professionally presented. In Honolulu, there are numerous professional fireworks displays, and a hundred times as many fireworks launched from porches, yards, fields, parking lots and streets.
Current state laws require permits for firecracker purchases and prohibit private use of aerial fireworks, but hundreds of tons of pyrotechnics manage to make their way into the state, and into the hands of citizens each year despite the laws. The laws allow use only between 9 PM on New Year's Eve and 1 AM on New Year's Day, but the noise begins at dusk, hours earlier. Fortunately, accidents are fairly few, considering the quantities in use, and the resulting smoke usually blows out to sea within a day or two.
The most intense experience is usually in densely populated valleys, like Palolo Valley, Pauoa Valley and Kalihi Valley. Visit friends in the middle of one of these valleys and you'll be surrounded by hundreds - more likely thousands - of people setting off firecrackers, pyrotechnic fountains, pinwheels, aerial fireworks that burst at various altitudes, and just about any other imaginable kind of pyrotechnic.
By 10 PM, explosions near and far become non-stop, flashes of colored light come from all direction, and the smoke reduces visibility to a few hundred feet. If you've ever been a media correspondent in a war zone, this will probably give you nasty flashbacks. The noise crescendos from there, and for a few minutes around midnight, everything else is drowned out by the din of millions of firecrackers exploding.
As intense as this experience is, it's also potentially dangerous. The smoke alone can be trouble for the very young, the very old, and anyone with respiratory problems, and stray pyrotechnics do start a few small fires and cause a few injuries on the island each year. Travelers can still enjoy the show, though, from the comfort and safety of Waikiki, a few miles away.
This is possible thanks to the proliferation of high-rise hotels in Waikiki. Rooms facing away from the ocean are often less expensive, and provide an excellent view of the unofficial fireworks shows. Hotels along the Ala Wai canal, such as the Marc Hawaiian Monarch, have a relatively unobstructed view of the mountains and valleys. It's best to ask for a high floor - this provides a better view, and helps ensure that you're above the smoke that clouds the streets. Anything above the 25th or 30th floor should be excellent.
At sunset, it may be hard to resist watching the valleys for the first few aerial bursts, but I'd suggest walking to the beach - it's only a few blocks away - to watch the sunset. After perhaps having a nice dinner, check around for any early official fireworks shows. There may be some at the beach-front hotels. Try to get back up to your hotel room by 10 PM - from there on out, the fireworks will be coming thick and fast.
If you're into photography, bring a good camera, some good lenses, and plenty of high-speed film. If you're seriously devoted, or into adventure, you might try going up to the valleys, but respiratory apparatus or at the very least a face mask will be required equipment for such forays.
When the noise finally dies down between midnight and 2 AM, call it a night. In the morning, everything outdoors will reek strongly of spent fireworks, and the streets and sidewalks will be littered with shreds of red firecracker paper. Venture forth and bid everyone a Happy New Year - or, as we say here, Hau'oli Makahiki Hou (How-olee Ma-ka-hee-kee Hoo). And be thankful that you've not only survived another year, but another highly explosive New Year's Eve.
Honolulu has one other distinction - it's the last major city to celebrate each New Year. At ten hours behind Greenwich Mean Time, it's only 2 hours east of the International Date Line. This is of special interest to anyone in eastern Asia, the western Pacific, Australia or New Zealand who'd like to celebrate the New Year twice. Simply hop a flight to Honolulu on the morning of January 1, and you'll arrive on December 31, in time for all the celebrating!
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dbirchall
|
|
Member: Dan Birchall
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Reviews written: 262
Trusted by: 64 members
About Me:
Techie, writer, dad, outdoorsman, traveler.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.