Tiki Kon Surfaces July 11-13, 2014, for Mysteries of the Deep

PORTLAND, OR (November 18, 2014) — Tiki Kon, the Pacific Northwest's Polynesian pop extravaganza, announces its return this July 11-13 at the Red Lion at the Quay in Vancouver, Washington. Now in its twelfth year, Tiki Kon delights and entertain hundreds of guests from around the West Coast and beyond, and the 2014 event promises to be bigger and better than ever before.

Members of Los Angeles tiki band The Ding Dong Devils perform at Tiki Kon, July, 2013 (Credit: David Bales)

The vision for Tiki Kon comes from the highly-stylized Polynesian-themed restaurants and lounges that were popular in the decades after World War II. With that aesthetic as guide, Tiki Kon creates an elegant weekend in an intimate venue, featuring local and regional artists and performers.

What began as a private home bar crawl has grown to become the Northwest’s swankest weekend gathering. Each year in July, hundreds of enthusiastic tiki fans converge to socialize, dance, party, shop, indulge and celebrate their love of tropical climates, Hawaiian shirts, cocktails and music. It's three days of music, fashion, art, dance, classic car show, vendors, seminars, cocktails, room parties and more. 

Guests visit Hale Pele on the VIP bar tour (Credit: David Bales)

The Sunday finale is an all-day VIP tiki tour of Portland's most amazing home and commercial bars, aboard "School of Rum" buses. One hundred guests, colurfully attired, join an exciting excursion to the private watering holes and hideaways of Portland’s most passionate tiki and lounge-culture aficianados. Cocktails on the tour are expertly crafted to highlight both new and favorite liquors and drink syrups, and the tour provides an opportunity to meet some of the makers.

Greg Clapp and Justin DuPré return for their second year at the helm of Tiki Kon leadership, with the help of a talented and dedicated team of volunteer coordinators. After their success in 2013, expectations are running high. Their efforts last year brought an expanded audience, introducing the event to tiki fans around the country and making new ones.

More information, including a subscription link to the Tiki Kon bulletin service, is available at www.tikikon.com. Lodging information, including a Tiki Kon group rate discount, is expected to be available in late November. Full website and ticket sales are slated to launch in Spring, 2014.

Tiki Kon & Hale Pele raise $1,480 for the Autism Society of Oregon

PORTLAND, OR (November 6, 2013) — Tiki Kon, the Pacific Northwest's Polynesian pop festival, has made donation of $1,160 to the Autism Society of Oregon at a special reception at Hale Pele, the nuevo tiki bar in Northeast Portland. The big check was presented by Tiki Kon producers Greg Clapp and Justin DuPré to representatives from the ASO, including Jeff Cox, President, and Tobi Burch Rates, Executive Director. The Tiki Kon donation was boosted an additional $320 by Hale Pele and guests at the reception.

Representatives from the Autism Society of Oregon with Tiki Kon 

producers Greg Clapp and Justin DuPré (Credit: David Bales)

The celebration party brought out fans and guests of Tiki Kon and supporters of the Autism Society and packed the house with a standing-room-only crowd. Opened in 2012, Hale Pele is considered the new pillar of the Portland tiki community and is nationally recognized for both its elaborate, interactive decor and outstanding food and drink. Blair Reynolds, proprietor of Hale Pele and owner of the B.G. Reynolds cocktail syrup company, boosted the donation to the Autism Society by pledging the night's profits from food and beverage sales.

In his remarks during the presentation, Clapp told the audience that he selected the Autism Society because of the number of Tiki Kon volunteers, guests and friends whose lives are touched by autism. "I knew I had to find a way to share in our success and give back to the volunteers that support and inspire us year after year," he said. "These are the people who make Tiki Kon happen, and these are the people I knew we needed to support."

Tiki Kon's contribution to the ASO represents a portion of proceeds from the 2013 event, which was held in July at the Red Lion at the Quay, a historic hotel and restaurant on the Vancouver, WA, waterfront. It returns to the Quay again in July of 2014.