Aloha Festivals in Hawaii — The Locals' Guide to All 80+ Years of Tradition

If you only attend one Hawaiian cultural festival in your life, **make it Aloha Festivals.** It runs every September on Oʻahu (with neighbor-island sub-events), it's completely free, and unlike the tourist luaus, this is what Hawaii's own cultural community throws *for itself.* ## What Aloha Festivals actually is Started in 1946 as "Aloha Week" by Hawaiian musicians + civic leaders trying to preserve the post-war connection to traditional Hawaiian arts. Now it's three weeks of public ceremonies, parades, music, hula, food, and craft demonstrations — produced by a volunteer-run nonprofit. There are **three flagship events** every year. Hit those three and you've done it right. ### 1. Opening Ceremony at Helumoa (Royal Hawaiian) **First Saturday of September · 4pm** The Aloha Festivals Royal Court (a King, Queen, Prince, Princess elected from the Hawaiian community) is publicly investitured. There's chanting, gift-giving, traditional Hawaiian protocol. Free, on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian / Helumoa Coconut Grove in Waikiki. It's short (~90 min) and powerful. Go. ### 2. Floral Parade through Waikiki **Saturday of week 3 · 9am** The Pā'ū riders — Hawaiian women on horseback in skirts of orchids, ti leaves, ginger — lead a parade from Ala Moana Park down Kalākaua Ave to Kapiʻolani Park. Floats, marching bands, hula schools, every Hawaiian civic club on Oʻahu. **Best viewing:** Kalākaua at Kuhio Beach (in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue). Arrive by 8:30am. ### 3. Hoʻolauleʻa block party on Kalākaua **Saturday after the parade · 6pm-9:30pm** Kalākaua Ave shuts down. Stages every block with live Hawaiian music. Food booths from Hawaiian civic clubs (kalua pork, lomi salmon, poi, haupia for $5-10). Hula on every corner. 100,000+ people. Wear walking shoes. ## On the neighbor islands - **Maui:** Aloha Week events run mid-September. Lahaina ho'olaule'a (post-fire scaled back), Hana parade, Wailuku free concerts. - **Big Island:** Hilo's Aloha Festivals court visits Liliuokalani Gardens. Smaller scale, more intimate. - **Kauaʻi:** Princeville and Lihue host community ho'olaule'as. ## Honest visitor advice - **It's free.** Tourist "luau" experiences charge $200+ for less authentic versions of the food + music you can have for $20 at Hoʻolauleʻa. - **Wear closed-toe shoes** if you're at the block party — 100K people = lots of feet. - **Bring small bills** for food booths. Most don't take cards. - **Don't bring a stroller to Hoʻolauleʻa** unless you love misery. Carrier or backpack. - **The parade is family-friendly**, the block party is too but it gets late + loud after 8pm. ## What's NOT Aloha Festivals (don't confuse them) - **Merrie Monarch** is the international hula competition, held in Hilo every April. Different event, different ticket model. - **King Kamehameha Day** is June 11 (separate state holiday). - **Prince Lot Hula Festival** is July, on the grounds of the Bishop Museum. Also free, also worth it, also separate. --- **[See every Aloha Festivals event on AlohaCalendar →](/aloha-festivals)** Subscribe to our [weekly Hawaii digest](/join) for the full local-events calendar.