A couple of people enjoy malasadas at a past Portuguese Festa. Photo courtesy the Portuguese Association of Maui

The annual Portuguese Festa on Maui seeks to tie the past in Hawaii with the traditional observance this weekend.

The Portuguese Association of Maui is scheduled to hold its free festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Heritage Hall, 401 Baldwin Ave.

Besides food and crafts sales, there will be a children’s corner offering crayons and printed images of animals identified in English and Portuguese. The children need to have a parent or guardian with them while they are coloring.

Called “Carnaval” in Brazil or “Mardi Gras” in New Orleans, Festa is celebrated differently depending on the location.

For Hawaii where Portuguese immigrants arrived in 1878 from Madeira and 1880 from the Azores, Festa on Maui is about food and family with a focus on the round deep-fried pastry malasadas.

In Portugal, it’s spelled malassadas. In New Orleans, where there is a strong French influence, they’re called beignets and are square.

“No matter what they are called, malassadas have a special place among treats in Hawaii,” association official Audrey Rocha-Reed.

In Hawaii, Portuguese plantation workers in the 1800s used lard and sugar to make malasadas before the religious fasting season. The donut has become so deeply rooted in local culture that some people in Hawaii call the day before Lent “Malasadas Day.” This year, Malasadas Day is on Feb. 17.

The Portuguese Association will be making the malasadas with real butter, fresh eggs and sugar and selling them for $15 per dozen on Sunday.

The Festa will also feature Portuguese bean soup, Portuguese sausage hotdogs with sweet dough buns and a limited supply of Bacalhau Gomes de Sa plates, or codfish with potatoes, eggs, parsley and olives, dressed with garlic and onions sautéed with olive oil.

A country store will include plants, crafts, jams, jellies, cookies, white bread and sweet bread for sale, and Lopes Farm will be selling cinnamon bread and Portuguese sausage. A show will feature products from Portugal, including ceramic roosters and items from Fatima.

There’s also a genealogical service for those who wish to find out about Portuguese or Puerto Rican background through the Portuguese Genealogical & Historical Society of Hawaii.

Society president and chief docent Dan Nelson will be available via Zoom to help families find their Portuguese and some Puerto Rican ancestors.

The genealogical service will be available at the Damien Farias Center at Heritage Hall, and those interested in participating are asked to bring the date of birth and death of their immigrant ancestors.

A number of prominent people with strong ties to Maui have Portuguese lineage, including former Maui County Mayors Elmer Cravalho, Hannibal and Charmaine Tavares, and Michael Victorino; as well as Lorrin and James Dolim, who founded Holsum Hawaii in Waimalu; Damien Farias Sr., who founded Maui Toyota; and former MLB baseball player Shane Victorino.

For more information, call Rocha-Reed at (808) 243-0065.