Last night, all of the sudden, Merrie Monarch practice at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Stadium was different. Last week, it was just my daughter’s hālau there in a quiet stadium in the evenings, rehearsing. Now, just three days before the first performances, we arrived to find great activity.

Ti-leaf diplays are wrapped around the railings now, and anthuriums, heliconia and greens sit in arrangements around the stage. Sponsors’ banners were affixed to framework – Mauna Loa Macadamias, Hawaiian Airlines, Big Island Candies. Two women were crouched down behind the bleachers, soaking ti leaves, and braiding ti leaves; they were surrounded by buckets and buckets and buckets of flowers. Clearly they were decorating the place.

The sound people have set up behind the stage and were there, doing what they do. Oficial people walked around, studied the area where the royal court people sit, and talked about last minute repairs.

It wasn’t the quiet place they’d been practicing for days. There were suddenly lots of people, each with the jobs they’re doing, and there was a buzz.

Itʻs nothing, though, like the buzz that will fill that stadium on Wednesday night.