Aloha! The sun, the sand, the surf, a fruity drink in a coconut…beach luaus call to mind the sounds of ukuleles, palm trees, tropical foods, Hawaiian grass skirts, and flowers in our hair.
That's why a beach luau is the perfect backdrop for your next fundraising event.
The luau theme is a multi-faceted fundraising experience, meaning an event of this kind will allow you to incorporate multiple fundraising opportunities into one event, and collect funds from many sources in one shot.
Beach luaus can be adults-only events if you want to have a licensed event, or they can be fun for the entire family. Or better yet – you can hold an ages event for your next community or church fundraiser.
Either way, we guarantee that everyone will have a great time.
These are our Hawaiian-inspired ideas that will put the Ho`olaule`a (which means celebration in Hawaiian) in your fundraising beach luau:
Hawaiian-style Dinner
What's a party without food? A traditional Hawaiian luau always showcases a fine Hawaiian dinner where the main features are exotic fish, tropical fruits, and grilled vegetables. A simple beach- or pool-side banquet can make you a lot of money when you charge a fee per plate and let diners serve themselves buffet-style for convenience.
Umbrella Drinks
Who can imagine a day at the beach without a cold drink? Fancy, tropical beverages should be available at your luau. If your event has a lot of underage folks in attendance, you'll need to offer alcohol-free beverages such as water, exotic fruit juices, and soda in addition to the alcoholic varieties.
Be sure to serve all of your drinks in colorful plastic cups with umbrellas and colorful straws for decoration that will add to your Hawaiian theme.
Hula Dancing
It doesn't have to be a professional troupe; it can even be more of a humorous form of entertainment. But be sure to cap off the night's festivities with a hula dance, the traditional entertainment of Hawaii. You can feature beautiful ladies in grass skirts, or to add some humor to the evening, ask some gentlemen to shake their hips in front of the crowd, complete with coconut bras.
Either way, the dance should get the crowd up and dancing as well. If you are lucky enough to find a professional hula troupe to perform, offer hula lessons to the crowd for a small fee per participant. Hula lessons can be a side feature during your luau, or you can offer them as part of a workshop before the party.
Live hula demonstrations will also make guests stay longer, and purchase more drinks and snacks throughout the evening. Hula dancing really works up an appetite!
Hawaiian-themed Crafts
Craft booths and craft workshops are great forms of luau entertainment for kids because crafting keeps little fingers busy. Crafting traditional Hawaiian items will also teach kids a little bit more about this exotic culture.
Set up crafting stations featuring lei making, grass skirt construction, flower hair clip crafts or sandcastle art, and charge a small fee to take part.
Luau Souvenirs
Let's face it – many of your guests will be having too much fun to craft a grass skirt or lei. So why not set up a merchandise stand where they can purchase their own leis, grass skirts, and coconut bras to wear throughout the evening? No one will want to be left out, so you can sell these items at a souvenir booth for those who forget to dress up before they come out to hula dance.
Sunset or Luau Photos
Create a luau back drop that guests can't help but want to remember. You can set the stage by having sand delivered and dumped near the pool. Erect a few fake palm trees and flamingos for ambience. Or toss a hammock in the mix and get guests lounging in their best vacation pose for the camera.
An evening event will prove a great natural backdrop because you can take advantage of the sunset. Either way, ask volunteers to take memorable digital pictures of guests in exchange of a small fee, and have a portable digital printer on site to print photos so guests can take them home.
Offer upgrades for an additional prop fee. Items such as fake parrots, stuffed monkeys, hula dancers, grass skirts, and coconut bras are always a lot of fun.
