Travel

The Big Island’s Lim Family Luau—honoring Hawaiian song and dance for a half-century

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer

Published December 14, 2017 at 12:44 PM PST

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Lim Family Luau at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel pays homage to old Hawaii

Thomas Wilmer

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Traditional hula at Lim Family Lua Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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Fire Dance at Lim Family Luau Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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Sunset is fitting time to start the Luau at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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Timeless sense at Lim Family Luau Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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pure joy is palpable at the Lim Family Luau Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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Lorna Lim shares her passion for the Lim Family Luau with correspondent Tom Wilmer

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

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The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel's mid-century architecture prooves to be timeless

Thomas Wilmer

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The vistas at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel are truly breathtaking

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A timeless dancer at Lim Family Luau

Thomas Wilmer

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Fire eater at Lim Family Luau Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

Thomas Wilmer

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Fire dancers make it easy to peer back through time to pre-contact Hawaii

Thomas Wilmer

Lim Family Luau troop performing traditional hula at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii

The Lim family Luau has been performing at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel since Laurance Rockefeller opened the resort back in the mid-1960s. Today the luau is the oldest, continuously operating show on the Big Island of Hawaii. Lorna Lim talks story about her family’s passion for performing authentic song, hula dance, and tales of old Hawaii.

Lorna Lim and her family reside in Kohala on the Big Island. The Lim Family are direct descendents of king Kamehameha the Great who was born in North Kohala in 1753.