Former members of the local Junior Chamber of Commerce
Most recent
2009
Participants
30,000
Attendance
1,000,000
Activity
Concerts, parades, street parties
TheAloha Festivals are an annual series of free cultural celebrations observed in the state ofHawaii in theUnited States based on theMakahiki, the beginning of theNative Hawaiian year marked by the sighting of thePleiades (Makali'i).[1] It is the only statewide cultural festival in the nation. Highlights include the presentation of the Royal Court, aho'olaule'a inWaikiki, and the Floral Parade. Approximately 30,000 people volunteer to plan, organize, and provide labor for the Aloha Festivals each year. Their efforts entertain over 1,000,000 people from throughout the state and visitors from all over the world.
In the spirit of preserving theHawaiian culture andheritage, the Aloha Festivals were established in 1946 asAloha Week by former members of the local Junior Chamber of Commerce. The former manager of the festivals,Goriann Akau, has said, "In 1946, after the war, Hawaiians needed an identity. We were lost and needed to regroup. When we started to celebrate our culture, we began to feel proud. We have a wonderful culture that had been buried for a number of years. This brought it out again. Self-esteem is more important than making a lot of money."[2]
The festival was celebrated on six of Hawaii's islands, but in 2008 festival organizers decided to hold most events on Oahu due to a lack of funding. There was also the chance that the Floral Parade would be cancelled altogether, but it was saved by private donors and funds from theCity and County of Honolulu.[3]
No Aloha festival was held in 2020. That was caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic, a year which had many disruptions. However it did resume in 2021.
The court is selected from a pool of applicants, all of whom must be of Hawaiian ancestry and of certain ages.[4] The festival itself begins with the presentation of the royal court during the opening ceremony. The ceremony takes place atHelumoa, a section of Waikiki near theRoyal Hawaiian Center.[5]
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