There are key people that have made the Tiki community what it is today and what it’s going to be in the future. Right now there are three main Tiki events that happen each year. One of those events is Tiki Kon and Greg Clapp is the man who puts it all together.
Tiki Kon takes place in Portland, OR, and has been going on for fourteen years. It’s a weekend of live music and entertainment. Tiki Kon also includes Tiki symposiums, Tiki bartending competitions, and an open market for artists and vendors to sell their Tiki wares. The main event of Tiki Kon is a home Tiki bar crawl where five or so bars are visited.
I was in Portland and I had a chance to meet Greg in person and ask him a few questions…
- When did you get into Tiki the Tiki lifestyle and what got you into it?
Greg: As with many Tiki enthusiasts, Uncle Walt and the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland planted the seed, though Tiki was nearly dead by that time in the late 1970s.
As a child, I would see all the dated relics of Tiki bars and lounges around southern California and wonder what mysterious and exotic things happened there. The Hanalei in San Diego was a landmark we would pass frequently on the way to the beach or to Sea World, though I never set foot there while it was the Hanalei. Now it’s a boring old Crown Plaza and much of the Tiki goodness has been remodeled out of existence. Beyond curiosity and a mild fascination, I didn’t become a Tiki enthusiast until about a decade ago, just as the resurgence was starting to take root.
2. Are you and native of Portland? If not, what brought you to Portland and was Tiki part of your life before the move?
Greg: I lived in Seattle for seventeen years until my partner Justin and I moved to Portland in 2007. Aside from a Tiki-themed bathroom in our Seattle apartment and a love for beach vacations, there wasn’t much Tiki in our lives. That all changed when we bought a house with an amazing nautical basement bar that was built from the salvaged mahogany from an old navy/coast guard ship. We immediately knew it needed to be transformed into a Tiki bar.
3. How does the future of Tiki culture look to you? Is it growing in Portland?
Greg-The future of Tiki looks bright, at least for now, though never as bright as it was in the decades after WWII. When vintage trends cycle back around, they never seem to have as much impact or staying power as they originally did. There’s definitely a growing trend, but I fear it will get diluted as the mainstream latches onto it as a marketing gimmick. I love it for the rich vintage and pop culture aspects, but it’s a different aesthetic now than it was in the heyday. That’s not a bad thing, though I do yearn for the dark old windowless Tiki temples from the ’50s and ’60s. Dark and mysterious! Many of the new ones are much more open to natural light and feel more like beach bars or hotel bars. Portland is fortunate to have one of the oldest surviving original Tiki lounges (the Alibi) and one of the nation’s best modern Tiki bars (Hale Pele). Sadly, we’ve lost our Trader Vic’s outpost twice, once in the ’90s when the original location closed and again this year when the new location closed its doors after four years.
4. What is your favorite Tiki bar? Why?
Greg: I would have to say my favorite Tiki bar is Trader Sam’s at Disneyland because it’s so interactive and because I’m such a big fan of Walt’s park. It exactly fits my idealized vision of what a Tiki bar should be: dark and windowless, gobs of amazing decor, interactive features, and wonderful cocktails. And the best part is that it’s a short walk to the Disneyland front gates.
5. What is your favorite Tiki cocktail?
Greg: It’s not necessarily a Tiki drink, but my go-to cocktail is the daiquiri. In its simplest form, it’s three ingredients: rum, lime, and sugar. It’s rum’s answer to a Manhattan or a martini. It’s a perfect way to audition or learn new rums and see how well they play with lime—the quintessential Tiki drink ingredient—and it’s a great base for experimenting.
6. When and how did you get involved with Tiki Kon?
Greg: Justin and I started attending as guests in 2008 and had our basement bar featured on the home bar tour a couple times. Then in 2012, I became a volunteer and took over the website and much of the backstage organizational tasks. I’ve always wanted to produce events, ever since I started helping my friend Charlotte Buchanan with the Fremont Outdoor Cinema in Seattle back in the ’90s. My admiration for Walt Disney as a showman and entertainer was part of that desire. After the 2012 event, when it was clear that Craig Hermann was ready to move on (and get his personal life back!), I took a risk and stepped up to take over Tiki Kon. I’d never produced an event before, but Justin and I were adept at throwing large parties, so it felt like something we could do. The Tiki torch was passed to us, and four years later it’s bigger and better than ever.
7.Can you give a little history of Tiki Kon? I think I was told it started as a Tiki bar crawl.
Greg: Much of Tiki Kon’s history is clouded in mystery and there were several organizers who came and went. From what I understand, Tiki Kon started as a Tiki bar crawl among friends in 2002, basically a group of bartenders, cocktail aficionados and Tiki nerds who rented a bus. The next year, bands were added and it became a two-day event that continued to grow slowly over a decade. The venues were different each year. Some years it was attached to a hotel, but other years it wasn’t. In 2012, the event moved to the Red Lion Jantzen Beach, a 350-room convention hotel on the Columbia River and a second bus was added to the bar tour. It was such a small event back then, we were rattling around in the hotel.
I took over the event the following year and we moved across the river to the Red Lion at the Quay in Vancouver, which was a much better fit for us. It was smaller and more unique, with an amazing ship-themed bar and restaurant that was built in 1955 and originally opened as a Tiki bar. Over the next three years, the event grew 400% in attendance and budget until we completely filled the hotel at the Quay and had to add a third bus to the bar tour. Sadly, the Quay closed permanently last year, so we’re back at the Jantzen Beach location. This year we’ve added a FOURTH bus to the tour. It’s a great hotel—large and much more luxurious than the Quay—but I definitely miss the funky charm of that old hotel and the bar.
8.How is Tiki Kon different than other Tiki conventions like Tiki Oasis or Hukilau?
Greg: Tiki Kon is more intimate and more relaxing than some of the larger Tiki events. As we started to grow, I wanted to make sure the event evolved to become more of a romantic getaway for friends and lovers than a massive, exhausting party atmosphere. The other events we’ve attended all had aspects we liked, but none seemed to be that perfect Tiki weekender we wanted to attend ourselves: not too big or too small, well-organized so that guests were never left wondering what’s going on next, not so popular that guests would have to fight for space in the music venues or swimming pool, lots of heart, not too much advertising, etc. We also wanted to showcase talent from the Pacific Northwest rather than hewing to a strictly Tiki lineup that required us to import performers from California and other areas. As a result, our entertainment is a bit more eclectic and strays from exotica and other Tiki genres, but it allows our guests to experience acts they may not have seen before at the other events.
We also have the Tiki Kon home bar tour, of course. I don’t think any other Tiki weekender has a tour like this, where we put 200 guests on buses, take them out for a tropical-style brunch, then take them around to the favorite bars and secret watering holes of Portland’s Tiki community. It’s a mix of commercial bars like Hale Pele and the Alibi and home bars. It’s so much fun!
9. Anything else you would like to add about yourself and or Tiki Kon?
Greg: I can’t talk about Tiki Kon without mentioning all the amazing people who make this labor of love possible. We’ve had essentially the same organizing committee for four years running. They’re all passionate, talented and a delight to work with. They donate a tremendous amount of time to the cause and I couldn’t possibly do this without all of them. Then there’s the dozens of volunteers who donate their time and energy. Plus our sponsors and partners: Hale Pele and BG Reynolds Syrups who have been major partners in this endeavor for as long as I’ve been involved; Class Cooking, our incredible bar tour caterer; Deadhead Rum and Apocalypto Tequila, returning again this year as presenter of our Friday night show; and all the artists, performers and vendors who help make Tiki Kon a rich and colorful experience.
And most of all, I couldn’t do this without my partner and associate producer, Justin DuPre. He has really stepped up and taken on more responsibilities than I would have wanted to hand to anyone, as I’ve been in the midst of a career change and stressful new day job. We make a fantastic team and I’m looking forward to many more Tiki Kon weekends and many more decades with Justin at my side.
Interested in going to Tiki Kon? Click here.
Here is an interview with Greg on Fox 12 Oregon.
All the pictures used for this post were from Greg. Thanks!