Tiki Oasis in Sunny Cali Starts Thursday!

Tikiphiles from all over the galaxy will be hitting the landing pads in San Diego this weekend for Tiki Oasis, “the largest and longest running Tiki Event on planet earth.” If you’re going, you’ve already laid down the lettuce for your tix and are probably either checking into the hotel or getting ready to jump on the plane. If you’re not going, you can live digitally vicariously through the tweets, posts and pix of the lucky ducks that will be there! (Just check out Tiki Central for Tiki Oasis Overload).

According to the official website, Tiki Oasis is “a family produced event by Otto and Baby Doe von Stroheim of Tiki News Magazine…the Tiki Oasis is the Tiki community’s annual reunion! Guests have the opportunity to honor historic sites and celebrate all aspects of Tiki Style. We are proud to celebrate our 10th Anniversary Tiki Oasis event!

Crown Plaza Hotel, site of Tiki Oasissis

This kat will not be traveling the 3000 miles this year…I dumped all my dough on The Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale But I’ll be keeping an eye on the posts of some of my pals who will be there, including Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid (who will be performing), the kool kats at Fez-O-Rama and the kids at Vintage Roadside. And believe me, I will be with you in spirit (that spirit being dark rum!)

Wishing everyone at Tiki-O a great, swingin’ time! Have a Mai Tai for me…and feel free to post comments or photos here or at The Retro Tiki Lounge on Facebook!

Aloha and Mahalos, Tiki Chris reporting from the travel desk at Tiki Lounge Talk.

Ohana In Full Swing, Tiki Kon 2010 Coming Up Fast!

Seriously, who wishes they were sipping a Mai Tai right now? I do!

While the North-East is celebrating Ohana Luau at the Lake this weekend, clear across the other side of the country Portland, Oregon is setting up the Tiki torches for this year’s Tiki Kon 2010: Atomic Tiki!

The weekend starts off Friday night with the bands Lushy, The Apolo Four plus DJ Drew Groove swanking it up at The Tonic Lounge. On Saturday it’s Thatch Tiki Bar for Exotic Cocktails, then everyone swings over to Tony Starlight’s Supperclub and Lounge where, according to the Tiki Kon site, you can “Enjoy the out of this world exotica music of Sneaky Tiki and the Lava Lounge Orchestra and an evening of entertainment with the commander of our tiki space voyage, Tony Starlight!” I’m hip.

Sunday kicks off with brunch at The Alibi, Portland’s oldest Tiki Bar and a tour of the best home Tiki Bars in the area. Mix in custom exotic cocktails specially made for the event, exotic art and ticket prices so reasonable you’ll think you’re back in the ’50s and you’ve got the makings of a very swankadelic scene.

Check out Tiki Kon’s website for the lowdown.

Wishing all our Tiki Friends a swingin’ weekend at Ohana! We’re with you in spirit…that spirit being rum, of course.

-Tiki Chris sitting at the Pirate Island Tiki Bar, sulking he’s not at Ohana but happy the palm trees here are real.

Looking forward to the Hukilau!

The Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale is this weekend, and I must say that us kats and kittens at Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar have been looking forward to this since we left last year’s shindig. This year, we’ll be hitting the Mai Kai for dinner and show with a couple of friends who’ve never seen it…in fact, even though they’ve lived down here in the land of palm trees and Mojitos for years, they’ve never been to the Mai Kai at all. Krazy, huh?

Bahia Cabana, site of the Hukilau

That brings up a point. It amazes me just how little most people know about our little Tiki and Retro culture, even though if you look hard enough, it’s everywhere. The Hukilau is one of the largest Tiki events in the galaxy, and brings in a lot of business to Fort Lauderdale. Yet most of the people I’ve yapped about it to have never even heard of it. Hell, I didn’t find out about it until just a few years ago, and I love this stuff! Maybe it’s best kept as a best kept secret, huh?

As for this  weekend, we’ll be attending the Friday night party and we’ll be at Bahia Cabana during the day on Saturday; we’ll be watching the premier of the Tikimentary ‘In Search of the Lost Paradise’; we’re going to the Wreck Bar for the Mermaid Show and will hit the Mai Kai in the evening. (Note to burglars: We have a very large dog, an cop-wired alarm and a next door neighbor with a shotgun and a coke habbit).

So as far as Tiki Lounge Talk posts go, not sure how things are going to play out in the next couple of days, so you might not hear from me until Sunday. That of course depends on the level of intoxication achieved at The Hukilau, catch my drift? Groovy. And for those swingers going to the big party - see you there kids…just like last year, I’ll be the guy in the Hawaiian shirt!

-Tiki Chris Pinto, reporting from the lanai next to the pool.

Get Ready for Tiki Caliente! June 4-6

Tiki Caliente II

They don’t care if it’s the biggest, they just want to be one of the best! That’s the kind of fun, laid-back & sip-a-cocktail attitude you’ll get when you swing down to Tiki Caliente this weekend.

Tiki Caliente II will be held at the Historic Caliente Tropics in Palm Springs, California, the birthplace of Tiki Oasis.

The Caliente Tropics

Entertainment includes Hula Girls, Martini Kings, Tikiyaki Orchesrta, Eliminators, Slacktone and the Cherry Capri. A Tiki art exhibit, “Primitive Pop for the Sophisticated Savage” features the Art of Derek Yaniger, Sam Gambino, Robb Hamel, Hassan “Headhunter” Patterson, and my favorite, Doug Horne.

The Caliente Tropics Resort is a fantabulous, original Tiki-themed hotel. Built in 1964, The Caliente Tropics has hosted such swingin’ notables as Elvis, Anna Nichole Smith and even members of the Rat Pack. The basement held the famous Cellar Steak House, but unfortunately had to be filled in with sand due to a slipping foundation. Kookie.

As with most of our Tiki Treasures, the Caliente Tropics almost didn’t make it through the 1990s. But some groovy kats bought her and fixed her up real nice in 2000, sinking 2.2 million clams into the resort to make her primo. Now the world of Tikiphiles can rejoice in this hip Tiki Megapad during Tiki Caliente II!

Three full days packed with music, dancing, tropical drinks and fun awaits you. Of course there will be a room crawl, and the bars are open till 2am. Cherry Carpri will even host a Tiki Fashion Show on Saturday. And there will be plenty of groovy vendors to spend your money with! So if you’re in the Palm Springs area, take the wheel of your automobile and swing on down to Tiki Caliente this weekend!

(If you do, make sure you look for TLT’s good friend Mahinui Gail, who will have a table set up with info on her TikiTabulous getaway/rainforest weddings in Hawaii! Or check it out here.)

-Tiki Chris, recovering from too many hamburgers over Memorial Day Weekend.

THE BIG THREE TIKI EVENTS! Hukilau, Ohana & Tiki Oasis are coming up fast

Sure kids, there are dozens of great Tiki events taking place all around the country (and the world), but when it comes to the biggest in the 48 states, none compare to the BIG THREE: The Hukilau in Fort Lauderdale Floirda, Tiki Oasis in San Diego California, and Ohana Luau at the Lake in Lake George New York.

The Hukilau 2010, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
June 10-13

TheHukilau.com

Since I live 15 minutes away from Fort Lauderdale Beach, going to The Hukilau is as easy as sipping a Mai Tai under a palm tree. Four days of Tiki themed parties, drinks, films, art, dining and shows will make you feel like you’re in the South Pacific. And of course, the world famous Mai Kai Polynesian Restaurant & Tiki Bar (The original from 1956) is included as the main attraction on Saturday night, featuring their Polynesian fire dancers and (what I think is) the best PolyPop dining outside of Hawaii.

Entertainment at the Hukilau this year includes King Kukulele, The Woggles, Neanderthals, Sweet Hollywaiians, Intoxicators!, Stolen Idols, The Bikini Beachcombers, Walk The Plank, Elena -Hula Hooper Extraordinaire!, Candy Del Rio, Reverend Valentine and South Florida’s own Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid.

In between the drinks, music and dancing will be specials guests: Shag - Josh Agle, a book signing by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, Lu Vickers - The History of Weeki Wachee, DVD of Tiki WORLD PREMIERE - Paradise Lost, Duda Leit Tikimentary - In Search of the Lost Paradise, Art from Harold Golen Gallery of Miami, and Sarong-O-Rama fashion show with Tiki Bree & Sandra Carr. Add to that the room crawl, Tiki Treasure Bazaar and the Master Mixologist Cocktail Challenge and you’ve got one hell of swingin’ Tiki bar party! We’ll be there for the big event on Friday night, all day Saturday and Saturday night for dinner and the Polynesian show at the Mai Kai.

Ohana Luau at the Lake
Lake George Village, New York
June 25-27

LuauAtTheLake.com

Luau at the Lake takes place each year in one of my favorite vacation spots, Lake George, New York at the fantabulous Tiki Motor Inn, a throwback to the golden years of Poly Pop. Lake George Village itself has a very ’50s vibe to it, and it’s not unusual to catch a ’57 Chevy or ’50 Merc cruising the strip on a Saturday night. This year’s Ohana features some great music from Granite Tiki, Bamboo Saxotica, 9th Wave, The Ghosts, Pablus, Waitiki, Fisherman, Jimmy Virani, Francis LLacuna and more.

Room crawls and outdoor movies viewable from the pool add to the fun. There’s also going to be a cocktail contest, a mini golf tournament and the Luau Under The Stars…featuring a pig roast, traditional hula and the fire knife dance. And of course there will be a section of Tikirific vendors to grab some hip souvenirs from!

And Last but certainly not least…

Tiki Oaisis
San Diego, California
August 19-21

http://tikioasis.org

According to the people who run Tiki Oasis, Tiki Oasis is “the largest and longest running Tiki Event on planet earth.” Here at Tiki Lounge Talk we have no reason to doubt the authenticity of that statement. One of the longest running Tiki parties, Tiki Oasis is set in the heart of what most people consider the home of the Tiki Culture rebirth, Southern California. (Of course some of us never noticed a rebirth because we’ve been swiggin’ rum at the Tiki bar all our lives)

Entertainment is wall to wall featuring King Kukulele, The Tikiyaki Orchestra, APE, The Martini Kings, Mimi Le Meaux, Clouseaux, Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid, The Maikai Gents, Lushy, Tana the Tattooed Lady, Project: Pimento, The Hula Girls, Lady Borgia, Thee Swank Bastards, Megan Mayhem, Violetta Beretta and Sultry Savage Burlesque, and Martin Cate. The schedule hasn’t been posted on the website yet, so it’s a sure bet there will be more stuff added to the event.

The bad news: These events are almost sold out for 2010. Rooms are totally booked and the goodies like commemorative Tiki Mugs are either gone or almost gone. So why am I posting this now? So you don’t forget to plan for next year, that’s why.

No kidding kids, if you can’t get into one of these events this year, start getting the luggage & cab fare  together for next year. These things sell out QUICK! In fact, the hotel rooms at Bahia Cabana (the host hotel for The Hukilau) sold out about a week after they announced it, if I remember right. So put it on the books, jump in your jalopy and make tracks!

Hope to see some of you at The Hukilau! I’ll be the guy in the Hawaiian shirt.

-Tiki Chris reporting from the cabana on the beach, under the hot Florida sun.

Tiki Lounge Talk is the place where mellow Tikiphiles meet swingin’ kats and kittens. Pull up a cocktail, lay a Les Baxter platter on the hi-fi and get into Retro & Tiki Culture and swing with kool kids! Ker-razy, man!