The Hukilau returns to Mai-Kai and Beachcomber Resort for a tiki takeover: All the details here!

For the first time in five years, The Hukilau is back at the Mai Kai.

The celebration of tiki and Polynesian culture had to say aloha to new locations when the South Florida hula hot spot — formally called the Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show — famously closed in October 2020 because of damages caused by a burst sprinkler pipe.

But now that the Oakland Park dining destination debuted a major renovation to the tune of more than $20 million, Hukilau will return with a series of rum-a-licious parties, luau dinners, live music performances, a history tour and more. The Hukilau was centered around the Mai-Kai from 2003 through 2019.

“If you love the Mai-Kai and love the romance and adventure of escaping to a South Seas paradise, then you’ll love The Hukilau,” says Richard Oneslager, organizer of The Hukilau and a Mai-Kai investor. “Nowhere else in the world can you drop anchor and sample cocktails from 14 different tiki bars, [with] great music, great shopping and great friends that you haven’t met yet.”

There is a pre-party for The Hukilau on Wednesday, June 4, at 4 p.m., and activities also will be available at the Beachcomber Resort & Club in Pompano Beach, such as a poolside brunch, bungalow parties, live performances and the Tiki Treasures Bazaar, with vendors offering all kinds of tiki tchotchkes.

A band entertains the "villagers" at The Hukilau in 2024. This year the tiki-lovers event will be staged at the Mai Kai and the Beachcomber Resort & Club June 5-8. (Spike and the Camera/Courtesy) — Spike and the Camera

A band entertains the “villagers,” as tiki-lovers call themselves, at The Hukilau in 2024. This year, the event will be staged at the Mai Kai and the Beachcomber Resort & Club. (Spike and the Camera/Courtesy)

WHAT’S NEW THIS TIME AROUND

Kicking off The Hukilau will be a pre-event symposium at the Beachcomber titled, “Build Your Own Tiki Bar Conference 2025,” starting Wednesday, June 4, with two sessions and continuing the next day with four sessions.

“We have seen an enormous trend in America, where people are really investing time and thought into a bar or entertaining space in their homes, and tiki or tropical themes seem to be one of the most popular,” says Oneslager. “This expanded series of workshops covers everything from concept and layout to resources for design, decor, bar fixtures and even custom glassware and swizzle sticks.

“The presenters that we have are absolutely world class and have built some of the most popular tiki bars around the United States,” he adds.

Other plans for “villagers,” as tiki-lovers call themselves, include a summer-camp series of activities and crafts called Camp Tiki Wachee, “as well as our own version of ‘Family Feud’ called ‘Ohana Feud,’ ” Oneslager says. “We have really tried to focus on activities and programming that allow our villagers to interact and meet one another. It is the friendship and the connections that keep people coming back.”

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THE ENTERTAINMENT & VISITING TIKI BARS

Music will come from tiki, surf and exotica bands such as The Untamed Youth, The Swingin’ Palms, The Sound Minds, The Hilo Hi-Flyers, Slowey and The Boats, Eva & Kully, The Intoxicators!, The Disasternauts and Skinny Jimmy Stingray.

Among other guests will be Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid and tiki author/Mai-Kai historian Tim “Swanky” Glazner.

Participating bars and bartenders will include:

Aku Aku Tiki Bar, Orlando
Bar Tiki, Clearwater Beach
Bare Bones Tiki, Boca Raton
Dead Isla, Detroit
Dirty Birds Tiki Bar & Grill, Cocoa Beach
Kahala Koa Tiki Bar, Arlington Heights, Illinois
Luau Lads, Jacksonville
Permanent Vacation, Maitland
Remora in Salt Lake City, Utah
Sugarcane Lounge & Café, Phoenix
Three Dots and a Dash, Chicago
Tiki Tatsu-Ya, Austin

“The most important thing that we want people to know about this Hukilau, and every Hukilau, is that it’s all about the aloha spirit,” Oneslager says. “We love welcoming everybody.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Hukilau

WHEN: June 5-8

WHERE:

Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show, 3599 N. Federal Highway, Oakland Park
Beachcomber Resort & Club, 1200 S. Ocean Blvd., Pompano Beach

COST:

Passes range from $198.45 to $668.45 (with individual experiences available including a Tiki Brunch and Saturday Night Luau)
Build Your Own Tiki Bar classes range from $99 to $199

INFORMATION: 303-618-1151; thehukilau.com

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel

Mai-Kai managing partner Bill Fuller dances with a performer during the reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Mai-Kai restaurant in Oakland Park on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)