Decorate your party room with a Beach Scene Setter, add a Surfer Couple Cut-out prop and some Surfboard cut-outs around the room for a Surfer’s Paradise feel. Impose a beachwear dress code (boardies, Hawaiian Shirts, bikinis and grass skirts) to get the guests in a surfing mood, whack on some Beach Boys classics on the stereo and get surfing, Dude! For a perfect way to keep those tinnies chilled, grab an Inflatable Surfboard Drinks cooler. Your fellow party goers are sure to be stoked as they carve up the dance floor and ride the sound waves of your beach party.

May 1st is the ‘Lei Day’ – the Hawaiian National Day to celebrate the Lei. The idea was conceived by poet Don Blanding back in 1927. On ‘Lei Day’ in 2007, Honolulu set the World Record for the World’s Longest Lei, measuring 5336 feet long.

‘Lei’ is the Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath to be worn. It is generally made from fresh flowers, leaves and vines.

In Hawaiian culture, the Lei is presented to a person on arrival or departure as a sign of affection and hung around their neck. They are often given on birthdays, weddings, graduations, funerals and weddings. It is not uncommon for a person to wear so many that they reach to their ears.

The Hawaiian for surfing is “he’enalu”. It is a core aspect of the Polynesian culture – not merely a pastime or adrenalin sport. The best surfer is the Chief (Kahuna), and he would have the most superior surfboard made from the best tree. Socially, it was divisive. The upper classes would have access to the best beaches and the best materials, whilst the lower classes would have to use other beaches and heavier wood. The only way to break the divide would be for someone from the lower classes to prove themselves with excellent surfing skills on their more cumbersome surfboards.

Surfing for the Ancient Hawaiians was a spiritual event. They prayed to the Gods to help them master the great oceans. If the tide was tame, the Hawaiian people would enlist the help of the local priest (kahuna) to help them pray to the Gods for great surf. The priest would help the surfers by leading them in a spiritual building of their surfboards. After selecting the tree for their boards, the surfers would dig out the tree and place fish in the holes as an offering to the Gods. Once this offering was in place, local craftsmen would them shape and prepare the boards. This service was usually only offered to the upper classes.

Waikiki Beach and Kahalu’u Bay are still popular with today’s surfers. Although we associate surfing with tropical settings of Hawaii, it is also a sport which springs to mind when we think of Australia. It was the Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku who introduced the art of surfing to the people of Sydney in 1915. Surfing is now second nature to most Australians living near the coast.

Modern day surfing has it’s own culture and is stereotypically enjoyed by Bermuda short wearing dudes with sun-bleached hair and shark-tooth necklaces. Other images conjured up by the term ‘surfboarding’ are bikinis, wetsuits, beach campfires, BBQs and shell jewellery. It is, however, enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities as a fitness activity, social pastime or competitively as a career. You don’t even need to travel to far flung beaches to experience the high-adrenalin thrill of surfing though, as Scotland and Cornwall have a history of very good surf conditions. Newquay has a host of fine beaches with fantastic surfing conditions – perhaps the best known being Fistral Beach.

What better way to chase away the winter blues than throwing a Hawaiian Party? You’ll feel instantly warmer and will get you in the mood for planning your summer holiday. So grab yourself a Limbo stick, a handle of Leis and a couple of Inflatable Palm Trees to get your Hawaiian Party plan rolling. Oh, and don’t forget your Jedward-esque Hawaiian Shirts. Aloha!

The main characters – remain the same: Lieutenant Commander Steven “Steve” McGarret (Alex O’Loughlin), a former Navy SEAL; Daniel “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan), a former Detective Sergeant from Newark; Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim), a former Honolulu Police Officer forced to resign following false accusations of corruption; and Kono Kalalaua (Grace Park), a newly graduated Honolulu Police Officer and former pro surfer.

The Hawaii Five-O task force investigate everything from suspicious deaths to kidnapping and fraud. The new series uses modern filming and as a result has a higher-octane feel about it, with some stunning stunts and action shots. Expect plenty of gun-fights, surfing, bad shirts, in-house banter and beach bronzed bodies. Although those of us old enough to remember the original series will miss the earlier actors and styling, this recent offering adds a breath of fresh air to a TV great.

So grab your pina coladas and Hawaiian shirts and make a date with your TV remote.

In preparation, decorate your home with a blend of Hawaiian props, such as inflatable palm trees and Tiki totem poles, but give it a ghoulish Halloween twist. For example, you could have a cardboard cut-out Hawaiian Hula girl, but give her a witch’s hat and broom.

For drinks, serve tropical cocktails, but add food colouring where necessary to give them the appearance of blood or slime. For extra effect, give them names like Tiki Terror, or Island Zombie.

With the costumes you can get really creative in combining the two themes together to make a Halloween night to remember. Send out invitations to your guests with some ideas for inspiration. You might try creating a Hawaiian zombie with a flower lei around his neck and a blood-splattered Hawaiian shirt. Or perhaps an enchanting yet terrifying vampire wearing a beautiful Hawaiian dress and dead flowers in her hair.

For extra ambience and atmosphere it’s a good idea to create a soundtrack that fits with your Halloween theme. If you’re good with technology you could combine Halloween sounds and traditional Hawaiian steel guitar music on your computer, or if not, simply hook up two stereos- one playing island rhythms and the other Halloween sound effects.

Happy Hawaiian Halloween!

Costumes- Think grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts. Handing out flower leis to guests as they arrive is a traditional Hawaiian symbol of friendship.

Props- A few well placed props, such as inflatable palm trees, parrots and sharks will give your party that little something extra, and can double up as toys to keep any attending children occupied.

Drinks- Tropical cocktails, such as the ‘Blue Hawaiian’ and the ‘Banana Lover’, are perfect for getting your party going. For those guests who don’t drink alcohol, exotic fruit juices, such as pineapple or mango, will go down a treat.

Games- Hawaiian party games, such as limbo competitions or hula dancing can help to liven things up. You could also have a competition for the best, and the worst, Hawaiian costumes.

Music- Play some Hawaiian steel guitar music to get everyone into the Hawaiian mood, or alternatively throw on some Hawaiian era Elvis.

The festival is free for all and attracts many music lovers dressed in Hawaiian costumes and fancy dress. Organised by the non-profit Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association, the event is an exciting showcase for Hawaiian talent, and features music concerts from both established Island musicians and upcoming bands and singers.

As well as the music and other cultural and artistic attractions, a number of workshops take place over the course of the weekend, and some give participants the chance to learn a new musical instrument, such as the ukulele or steel guitar.

There is a strong emphasis on Hawaiian influences at the festival, but music and art from Pacific Islands such as Tahiti and Samoa are also featured.

If you like the idea of the festival but are unable to afford the plane ticket to San Francisco, why not organise your own Aloha festival in your back garden or local park?

See if you can track down any local musicians with Hawaiian influences, or if they might be persuaded to learn some Hawaiian music and perform live at the event. Organise Hawaiian food at the event and have everyone turn up in Hawaiian grass skirts, shirts and flower leis. Guests may take a while to warm to the idea, but pretty soon they’ll be loving the island vibes and tropical flavours.

A television is obviously a must, the larger the better, and you can hook this up in the garden using an extension cable. Consider setting up a small gazebo or marquee to shield the screen from the sun or any unpredictable rain.

Get your guests in the mood by setting up a few tropical decorations for your Hawaiian themed fancy dress party, such as inflatable palm trees and parrots. Throw in a beach ball to the mix, in case your guests fancy a kickabout during halftime.

If you want to serve food before or after the game, treat your friends to a Hawaiian style barbecue in the summer sun. Traditional Hawaiian culinary fare includes a meat or fish main course, a scoop of rice and a salad.

The fancy dress itself is of course integral to your Hawaiian themed world cup party. Send out invitations specifying garish Hawaiian shirts, shorts and grass skirts. As a finishing touch, greet your guests with flower garlands at the door.

No one can predict the final score of the world cup final, but you can ensure it sticks in your guests’ memory by throwing a Hawaiian themed party they’ll never forget.

Nicole Kidman – One of the world’s highest paid actresses, Nicole Kidman has dual Australian/ American citizenship, and was born in Honolulu. She spent the first four years of her life in Hawaii, making her the perfect Hawaiian celebrity if you want to show off your glamorous side at the fancy dress party.

Barack Obama – The current President of the United States is in fact Hawaiian. Born in Honolulu to American and Kenyan parents, Obama spent much of early life in Hawaii, and returned several times to study.

Duke Kahanamoku – A Five time Olympic medalist swimmer, Duke played a major role in the popularisation of surfing as a mainstream sport. Though he passed away over forty years ago, Duke is still revered in Hawaii today and has a chain of restaurants named after him. On Waikiki beach on the island of Oahu, he is immortalised in the form of a large statue with accompanying surfboard.

Akebono Taro – Taro was a legendary sumo wrestler from Hawaii, and the first foreigner to achieve the highest rank possible in Sumo wrestling, that of Yokozuna.