The queen of the City and County of Honolulu’s Lei Day has flowers in her name.
Lei Llanos, who is from Waipahu and a graduate of Sacred Hearts Academy, was named the event’s queen at Kapolei Hale earlier this month.
As a child, Llanos remembers performing at Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand on Lei Day. This year, she will be part of the Lei Court, along with First Princess Pualeilani Kamahoahoa and Princess Xian Pomare.
Her role is to help coordinate and promote the event, in addition to opening the lei contest.
The 97th annual May Day celebration will take place this year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, at Kapiʻolani Regional Park.
Originally, the event started with a few people wearing lei in Downtown Honolulu, in 1927. Today, it includes musical and hula performances, lei-making workshops, merchants and a lei contest.
The event is hosted by the Department of Parks and Recreation. After the celebration, lei from the contest are placed on the graves of Hawaiian royalty at Kawaiāha‘o Church and Mauna ‘Ala, the royal mausoleum.
Llanos is the Poʻo Puaʻa o for Hālau Hula ʻO Hōkūlani. In 2021, she was also named Mrs. Hawaiʻi and Mrs. Congeniality and the People’s Choice at the national pageant.
She learned to make lei for competitions with her hālau. At first, Llanos said she felt pressure to make something perfect, “but no lei is perfect."
“The first lesson I remember is: Pick your own foliage. Try not to buy,” she said. “And always have a positive attitude because whatever energy you have at that moment when you make that lei, goes into the lei. So, if it is negative energy, it is going to fall apart. … Even now, I still have that mentality.”
Llanos usually picks out flowers and designs ahead of time, but says part of the fun is never knowing exactly how it will turn out until it is complete.
“I love seeing the joy that it brings people when I make the lei or even when I teach others how to make it,” she said.
The competition for the queen title included a lei competition. Contestants had to create three lei, including one assembled while judges and members of the audience asked questions. It also included hula.
“When I dance, I actually try to embody that essence of the story; how it was made, who it's about,” she said. “I love doing that because if I can actually share that story correctly — with the right emotions and the right energy — I can inspire somebody else who needs to hear the story.”
Llanos also loves the history that is part of the mele, or songs and chants, she said.
She is also involved with the Young Women Prom Event, hosted by Honolulu City Council member Andria Tupola and Empower Hawaiʻi, which provides free prom dresses to local teenagers and connects them with educational speakers.
For more information about the event, click here.
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
