Maui Onion Grower’s Association President Bobby Ito has been farming in Kula for 34 years and says the Maui Onion is the “sweetest in the world.” He and his pals will slice and fry a half ton of Maui Onion rings during the festival. STEVE BRINKMAN / photo

No matter how you slice it, Maui Onion Festival at Whalers Village Fine Shops & Restaurants Saturday in Kaanapali should be a ton of fun. Actually, a half ton. We are talking about the bags and bags of sweet Maui Onion rings that will be deep-fried to a crunchy golden doneness in massive woks by the Maui Onion Growers Association. “We’ll truck down a half ton of the Maui Onions,” says Kula farmer Bobby Ito, who is MOGA’s current president. “We’ll deep-fry plenty. We’re expecting a lot of people, so we don’t want to run out. We’ll be prepared this year for sure.” Chinese immigrants who first arrived on Maui starting planting onions around 1880 in the Kula region. For decades, the onions were nurtured in the fertile Upcountry fields. Then in the mid-1900s, a hybrid cross of the Bermuda cultivars and the Spanish Grano strains became what is known as today’s “super sweet” variety. “The best onions come from Kula. We have the best conditions for the sweetness and the mildness.