London Luau 007

This past weekend’s third annual London Luau, held at venues across London, commenced Friday evening with the opening of the Tiki Art Show at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. The exhibition featured tropical kitsch themed artwork by several artists from around the world, including well known American lowbrow sensation Shag and more local artists such as Oxfordshire’s Tiki Racer and London-based architect Michael Murphy.

During the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday, the South Seas festivities continued at the Truman with a market, cocktail bar, live Polynesian dancing and more. However, for most of the Luau’s attendees, the real draw occurred at night, catching up over rum-based “tiki drinks” at three of London’s most notable cocktail bars: Mahiki, Trader Vic’s and Trailer Happiness.

The main event of the weekend was an actual Hawaiian-style luau on Saturday night at Trader Vic’s complete with three bands, two DJs, one suckling pig per table and plenty of gleeful imbibers clad in loud floral-print aloha wear. According to Patrick Cahuzac, general manager of Trader Vic’s London, plans are already in the works for next year’s London Luau.

Photography by Tiki Chris © 2007

London Luau, 8-10 June, venues across London, for more information go to the London Luau website here.