Super CW’s Birthday Bash is One Party You Definitely Won’t Want to Miss

Christa Wittmier’s Birthday/Retirement Party happens Wednesday, Dec. 21.

December 16, 2016

Michael Keany,

Photos: Courtesy of Christa Wittmier

You might know Christa Wittmier as trend-setting nightlife blogger, DJ and larger-than-life personality Super CW. Or as a marketing professional with liquor distributor Young’s Market. Or you might have heard about her experiences dealing with cancer this past year, which inspired her to co-found the nonprofit organization The Aloha Cancer Project.

But what you should also know is that Wittmier throws a mean party. She’s been organizing December celebrations for her birthday since 2009, and they tend to be the best party in Honolulu all year.

This year’s shindig is doing double duty as a blowout retirement party for Wittmier, and it’s going to be one of the biggest things she’s organized yet. It’ll be at the Hawai‘i Events Center, a large indoor/outdoor venue with two stages featuring musical acts including Verses Undefined, Castle Park, Already Sweaty, and DJs Kurokumo, Bozz, Jem, Godiva and many more. There’ll be entertainment by Volary Aerial Burlesque, plus local fashion designer Matt Bruening will unveil a new inspired spring collection on the runway. Don’t eat dinner before coming, either: There’ll be food from Town Restaurant, Juicy Brew and a range of food trucks.

You can buy tickets for SuperCW's Official Retirement (and Birthday) FUNraiser here.

Student discount at door with valid ID. Wednesday, Dec. 21, 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., Hawai‘i Events Center, 985 Dillingham Blvd.

We sat down with Wittmier to talk story about the party, and a few other things.

HONOLULU MAGAZINE: So how did you get inspired to throw this year’s party?

CW: I had decided that I wasn’t going to do another party. I’ve been doing these since 2009, and every year, I say, I’m not going to do a party! And then I go, OK, I’ll just do it!

It’s like having a baby: You forget all the pain, because now you’re celebrating with everyone. You walk through and see everyone having so much fun, and everyone is giving me high-fives. And then having everybody talk about it, for weeks after. So, you get that kind of feedback, why wouldn’t you want to keep going? But then, when you’re in the middle of all the hard work it takes for an event like this, you’re like, why did I do this again!

HM: What’s your formula for a great party?

CW: I really like creating a full sensory overload. I like using projection, and having a lot of art. Live art, everything. And then of course the music. At this party, we’re going to have both an indoor and an outdoor stage. If you remember how the layout of Fresh Café (Kaka‘ako) was, with different areas, it’s going to be like that, except much bigger. And I try to have a range of stuff going on, and let the DJs do their own style of music.

HM: Tell me about your philosophy about coming early.

CW: In Hawai‘i, people will wait. If you say a party starts at 9, people will be getting in the shower at 10, and showing up at 11. So, for this party, I specifically scheduled the things that people aren’t going to want to miss early, so that everyone can come early and check it all out. There’ll be food, so you can come straight from work and eat and hang out.

Like, why do people have to be lying on their couch and waiting for someone else to say it’s good before they’ll even go? I’m trying to break that habit. Figure it out for yourself: Just come early!

When I go to events, I like to be the first one there. I don’t like to be fashionably late. I get in, get out and get ahead!

Photo: Courtesy of Matt Bruening

HM: What are you most looking forward to with this party?

CW: Matt Bruening’s fashion show! He is creating an entirely new collection, based on this idea, “Feel No Waves.” If you think about the image of the shadows from a palm leaf on a girl’s back, he’s made pieces that look like that. He’s working really hard, which I love.

Oh, and Packo and Luly, with their Verses Undefined performance! They’re so great. I believe this will be their first public performance. I have them going right at the prime spot. I’m so excited to see them live, because I have a CD that they gave me and have been listening to it so much.

HM: What’s your take on Honolulu’s nightlife scene these days?

CW: It feels like nightlife dropped off the radar at some point. I don’t think it moved from Chinatown to Kaka‘ako or anything. What I think happened is it got sucked away to relationships, Netflix, the neighborhood bars like Home Bar, Pint + Jigger, these kinds of places. Nobody has money anymore, so they’re not going to M. They’re going to go to Home Bar, get really good food, really good drinks that are cheap, and not deal with any of that other stuff. The clubs have turned into more of a special-occasion thing.

The new gen needs to step up and start doing stuff. I know that the city thrives better when there are people keeping it alive. All your favorite bartenders are now opening their own bars. As long as there are people working and not giving up, it’ll never get boring, because there are always new people coming in, people leaving.

HM: How was your recent trip to New Zealand?

CW: I had this super-clear push, “go to New Zealand.” It was after my (cancer) prognosis, when my doctor told me how serious it was. The whole time, all this past year, they kept telling me all these things, and I was like, “But I feel fine!” So it was hard to accept it, right? But when she said that to me, I was like, I gotta go to New Zealand. I just needed to go.

I had an orange bus, and it had a really good GPS, so I could just put in, like, “hot springs,” and it would know where to go.

I was there for two weeks. I spent the first week camping, soaking in the water, going to the zoo, going to the animal sanctuary, going to the art museum. It was all so beautiful.

Then I went to the Tūhou tribe. He tattooed my arm. It signifies my courage. It hurt. It felt like he was carving it with a knife, and you’re trying to be brave. I’m taking these chemo pills, which means maybe I’m not as strong. But I’m really glad I did it. I was so honored.

I’m really glad I went. I was in New Zealand when I decided to do the party. I was getting all this clarity. I said, you know what, if I have to stop working, especially in the liquor business, I’m just going to have a retirement party. A big, end-of-the-year, retirement party, and I’ll just go out with a bang.

I don’t want to say this is going to be my last party, but, with the prognosis that I have—and I’m just being realistic—if I can make it two years, I’m going to be defying odds. I want people to remember this. I want them to remember me like this. It’s been a tough year.

I’m like, I’m alive, I’m having a fuckin’ party. As long as I’m alive, I’m having a party.