As I sit at my desk writing this today, I am enjoying a very juicy, lemonade-flavored See’s Candies lollypop. These were offered to everyone in the audience to enjoy at one of the seminars at Tiki Oasis 2024.
On the official event website (www.tikioasis.com), Tiki Oasis is billed as “a five-night, four-day live music event, including pool lounging, fashion shows, swanky suites, sunset dinners, disc jockeys, art exhibits, educational seminars, a bustling Tiki Marketplace, wedding options, tropical cocktails curated by top mixologists, and more! Now in its 24th year, Tiki Oasis is the original and largest Tiki event in the entire world.” Offering something for everyone, young and old alike, and everyone in-between, Tiki Oasis is really is all this and more, including a scaled-down (from years past) car show at the curb of the resort’s circular driveway.
The theme of this year’s Tiki Oasis, which was held July 31 to Aug. 4 at the Town & Country Resort Hotel in San Diego’s Mission Valley, was “Tiki Oasis WAY OUT WEST — where the sun meets the sea.” Derek Yaniger, Tiki Oasis illustrator, performed a masterful job combining the West, the sea and happy, Tiki apparel-clad attendees having fun and enjoying the Tiki Oasis experience.
One of the first stops people in-the-know make on Thursday morning is at the annual Art and Lamp Show. People were already lined up as sales began at 10 a.m. The works are fantastic, each is unique and the prices are reasonable. Someone beat me to purchase the piece that I especially liked, and would have considered buying.
Throughout Tiki Oasis were many audio/visual seminars plus alcoholic beverage tasting sessions (over 21). The first seminar that I attended was “Confessions of a Fire Eating Mermaid” with MeduSirena. She has lived her fascinating, varied life to the fullest — from growing up in Puerto Rico and learning to skin dive at age three, to working at the iconic Mai-Kai, to telling her story to this audience at Tiki Oasis. As her bio on the website tells us, she is a Polynesian dancer, aquatic dance reconstructeur, founder of the modern career Mermaid Movement, AquaBurlesque creator, Taiko drummer, fitness ambassador, photographer, wingwalker, fledgling bassist and all around ‘Middle Aged Menace’.”
Other seminars that I attended were “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room” with Ken Bruce, after which I got an autographed copy of his book titled “Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room — Before the Birds Sang Words”; “Skipper Josh’s South Seas Adventures,” “Disney Legend: The Great Rolly Crump Presents his Magic” with Christopher Crump & Chris Nichols, “Delights of the Desert” with Chuntikis, “Legendary Tiki Bars Reborn” with Justin Peterson, Tom Allsmiller and Marie King, “Made in California: Food that Changed America” with George Geary, and “The Opulent Grandeur of Los Angeles Architecture” with Domenic Priore.
To the delight of all in attendance, Charles Phoenix (I know!) returned to Tiki Oasis on Sunday to entertain us with another great presentation. This one was titled “Knotts Berry Farmland.”
Musical entertainment included disc jockeys, The Satin Dolz — a wonderful song and dance group that I saw perform at Tiki Oasis 2018 (for coverage of that, including a link to my Satin Dollz video, go to https://automatters.net/tiki-oasis-2018-with-a-car-show/), Deke & The Whippersnappers, and much more.
Favorite traditions that were celebrated again at Tiki Oasis 2024 were the Aloha Caftan Society’s Caftan Stroll around the (very crowded!) pool, the Mx (not a typo!) Tiki Oasis contest, hosted by El Vez and Miss Tiki Oasis 2023 CoCo DeSoto, and the Tiki Oasis Costume Contest.
Late night entertainment included hosted Suite Soirees — some with live bands, and the “Tease-O-Rama After Hours” (formerly called the Burlesque show).
Of course, this would not have been Tiki Oasis if there were not tastings — and there were many such sessions. The last of these was the ever popular, 10th annual Tiki Oasis San Diego Bartender Battle.
I’ll leave you with this tip that you probably will not find on any of the official literature. Every day search for hidden treasures on the unofficial Tiki Oasis scavenger hunt. It is called TikiSeeki.
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Copyright © 2024 by Jan Wagner – AutoMatters & More #849
