ATLRetro

by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor

Get your ukuleles ready and hula on down to the first ever Inuhele Atlanta Tiki Weekender and second annual Atlanta HomeBar Tour Friday – Sunday (Feb. 15-17) at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center brought to you by Jonathan Chaffin and Horror in Clay (see our Shop Around feature here) and Mug Crate. You won’t want to miss a weekend chock full of tiki bar-hopping, panels, vendors, bands, demos, sharing of ideas, community building and all things Polynesian!

Surf on into Friday night’s events with a wide variety of panels including Jonathan Chaffin’s “Tikiphiles United,” daddy-o’est and ATLRetro-tastic artist extraordinaire Derek Yaniger’s (see our Kool Kat interview with Derek here) “Doodlin’ with Derek,” and James Honeycut’s “Surf Music 101!” Or get a fright at the first ever Inuhele Tiki SpookShow (two live sets) with none other than our very own Kool Kat Shane Morton, a.k.a. Ghost Host with the Most, Prof. Morte and his band of go-go island ghouls, magic tricks, jokes, spectacle and frights! Or take a tiki trip on the “Hop On Hop Off Bar Tour Buses” departing every 20 minutes from the front of the hotel. Tour buses will ferry you to island adventures at Trader Vic’s , Tiki Tango and Tiki Iniki  from 6 pm – midnight. VIPs can choose from a private excursion to SOS on Friday or  Tiki Tango on Saturday. And don’t forget to hit up the Trading Post and Bazaar filled with a wide variety of funky retro island vendors.

Saturday events include Lava-lava Revue & Conga (part talent show/part fashion show), fire dancers, panels on all things island and tiki including history, cocktails, cooking and art! You won’t want to miss The Iron Tikitender On Tour Bartending Competition and live entertainment like The Mystery Men? and Kinky Waikiki. Check out our soon to be Kool Kat of the Week, Allison Chaffin as she hosts Team Trivia, and don’t forget to drop by the Bazaar to meet authors Tim “Swanky” Glazner, who will be signing copies of MAI-KAI: HISTORY AND MYSTERY OF THE ICONIC TIKI RESTAURANT from noon to 1 pm, and Darren Long, who will be signing OMNI HUT: CELEBRATING TENNESSEE’S TIKI TREASURE from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. Gather your grass skirts and your tiki mugs and Mai Tai it up with the best of ‘em this weekend!

The Atlanta Marriott Century Center is located at 2000 Century Blvd NE, Atlanta, GA 30345. Standard tickets – $99 (access to Friday and Saturday events)/Deluxe – $140/VIP – $249. Note: Deluxe and VIP tickets are only available until Sunday Feb. 10 at noon ET!

For more information and the complete Inuhele Atlanta Tiki Weekend schedule, visit the website here or the Facebook event page here.