Children from Halau Na Kaulakuhikuhi hold taro plants at an earlier East Maui Taro Festival.

The 25th annual East Maui Taro Festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Hana Ballpark. Admission is free. The event focuses on kalo/taro as a staple food of the Hawaiian diet, as well as being the symbolic “Elder Brother” of Native Hawaiians.

The festival features all-day hula and music, local arts and crafts, a farmers market with all types of taro for sale, hands-on cultural activities, and 20 food booths, each with a main taro dish or side.

This year the Queen’s Challenge Taro/Kalo Competition will be part of the event, open to all taro farmers on Maui growing Hawaiian taro varieties in two categories — wetland or dryland. Entries must be Hawaiian taro varieties found in Bulletin 84: Taro Varieties in Hawaii (1939) and a two-point advantage will go to taro grown organically in honor of Queen Emma’s proficiency in growing kalo and caring for the soil.

The East Maui Taro Festival Inc. is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501c3 organization, supported in part by a grant from the County of Maui Office of Economic Development.

For more information, visit www.tarofestival.org.