When Naaman Toko was growing up, he lived with his family in Kukuihaele, above Waipio Valley. Every weekend, though, he, his parents and four siblings would pile into their old Willys pickup truck and head to the valley to tend the 7 acres of kalo (taro) that his maternal grandfather started in the early 1960s.

“Rain or shine, we went,” Toko recalled. “The road wasn’t paved; it was all gravel and really steep. We put snow chains on the truck’s tires to go down the hill, take them off to drive in the valley and put them on again when we went back up the hill. We would leave at 6 in the morning and come back around 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon.”

By the age of 7, the Toko children were all familiar with hard work. They were sometimes knee-deep in the patches — bent over with sunburned faces, hands and feet caked with mud and bodies glistening with sweat from hours of pulling weeds and planting and harvesting kalo.

“Harvest time, my family hauled 2,000 pounds from the valley every weekend,” Toko said. “That’s 20 100-pound bags coming up the hill in our truck, with us kids in the back sitting on them.”

Today, in addition to running a landscaping business, Toko carries on his family’s tradition of growing taro in Waipio. “I take care of 4 acres, and my niece and nephew handle the other 3,” he said. “My late father and brother Alston loved the kalo farming lifestyle in Waipio, and I wanted to honor them by continuing it. Also, I don’t have kids, but I feel it’s my turn to teach the younger generation so taro’s important place in Hawaiian culture can be perpetuated.”

To that end, Toko and other members of the nonprofit, community-based organization Ha Ola o Waipio spearheaded plans for the inaugural Waipio Kalo Festival. Formed in 2014, the group aims to preserve the valley’s culture, history, values and agricultural focus. Fittingly, the festival honors taro and the families, farmers, cultural practitioners, musicians, dancers and artists who hail from Waipio or have been inspired by it.

On display at the event through photos and/or actual specimens will be some 30 varieties of kalo, including seven specific to Waipio. Farmers, including Toko, will be on hand to answer questions about the varieties, cultivation techniques and preparation methods.

Among those manning information booths will be representatives from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, North Hawaii Education and Research Center and the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Topics they’ll be discussing include agro-forestry, the importance of water and healthy soil to agriculture and the history of Waipio and the Hamakua district.

Attendees can participate in hands-on activities, including lei making, poi pounding and coconut and lau hala weaving. Adults competing in the Taro Team Relay will go through a fun obstacle course that simulates typical tasks of a kalo farmer.

Food will be a big part of the celebration. Entrants in the Taro Cook-off (amateur home cooks only, please) will vie for top honors in appetizer, entree and dessert categories. Dishes must have kalo as an ingredient; any part of the plant can be used.

There is no fee to participate, and each person is limited to one entry per category. At least five samples of each dish should be brought to the festival by 1 p.m. (extras will be shared with spectators).

Tempting festivalgoers will be made-to-order smoothies and sugar cane juice; homemade snacks such as taro chips, beef jerky and toffee brittle; and a plate lunch of kalua pig, chicken long rice, squid luau, lomi salmon, sweet potato, fern shoot salad, poke, haupia and poi made from kalo grown in Waipio Valley.

Toko eats taro at least four times a week; one of his favorite meals is corned beef hash made with taro instead of potatoes.

“Growing taro is hard work, but I know as long as I do it, my family and I will never be hungry,” he said. “That’s how I was raised: Take care of taro and it will take care of you.”

About Waipio Valley

Waipio, on Hawaii island’s Hamakua Coast, is guarded by 2,000-foot-high cliffs.

Fringed by a mile-long black-sand beach, the verdant 5-mile-deep valley is significant for its role in Hawaiian legend and history as well as its beauty.

Ancient chants describe it as the home of Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of the ocean, and Kane, the god of procreation, forests and fresh water. Many alii (royalty) also lived there, among them the high chief Umi, who unified Hawaii island sometime in the 1500s.

Umi is also known for planting large kalo patches, which established Waipio as a major agricultural center. According to legend, the Hawaiian people trace their roots to taro (see bit.ly/1TYanx0), and for centuries it was one of their staples.

When the missionary William Ellis visited Waipio in 1823, he estimated its population to be around 1,325. At the time, banana, breadfruit, coconut, kava, sugar cane and arrowroot flourished in the valley, along with kalo.

Thirty years later, however, the population had plunged to 700, likely due to the introduction of Western diseases and the lure of better jobs in burgeoning communities such as Kona. Over the decades, floods, droughts, pest infestations and other natural disasters also took their toll.

By the early 1940s, Wai­pio’s population had dwindled to 200; after the devastating 1946 tsunami, only 20 remained in the valley.

Today some 80 residents relish their peaceful, off-the-grid life there. Of those, about 30 are growing taro. An additional 30 to 40 people farm in Waipio but do not live there.