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TheMerrie Monarch Festival is a week-long cultural festival that takes place annually inHilo, Hawaii during the week after Easter. It honors KingDavid Kalākaua, who was called the "Merrie Monarch" for his patronage of the arts and is credited with restoring manyHawaiian cultural traditions during his reign, includinghula.^[1] Manyhālau hula (schools), including some from the U.S. mainland^[2] and some international performers,^[3] attend the festival each year to participate in exhibitions and competitions. The festival has received worldwide attention and is considered the most prestigious of all hula contests.^[4]

Merrie Monarch week beginsEaster Sunday every year.^[5] The competitive hula events end the week, and occur on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday;^[5] They are televised and live-streamed for free online byHawaii News Now (formerlyKHII-TV, KFVE/K5).

The 2020 Merrie Monarch festival was cancelled due tocoronavirus pandemic concerns. The 2021 competition was held June 24–26, without a live audience, and was broadcast July 1–3 onKFVE.^[6]

The 2025 Merrie Monarch hula competition began on Thursday night April 24 at 6:00pmHST, and was livestreamed free all three nights on the website ofHawaii News Now.^[7]

The festival is dedicated to the memory of KingDavid Kalākaua, the last king of theKingdom of Hawaii, who reigned from 1874 until his death in 1891.^[1] Kalākaua was “a patron of the arts, especially music and dance,” and is credited with reviving many endangered native Hawaiian traditions such as mythology, medicine, and chant.^[1] He was also a strong supporter of thehula, a traditional form of dance. Many of these cultural practices "had been suppressed for many years under missionary teachings."^[1] The festival is named after Kalākaua's nickname “Merrie Monarch” because he was known to always be happy, fun, and loving towards his people. The structure of the festival takes after Kalākaua's Silver Jubilee. This was a two-week celebration of Hawaiian culture on his 50th birthday (1886) atʻIolani Palace on the island of Oʻahu.^[8]

The Merrie Monarch Festival began in 1963 whenHelene Hale, then Executive Officer ofHawaii County, decided to create an event to increase tourism to theIsland of Hawaii.^[9] The island had suffered from economic problems after the collapse of the sugar industry, and it was hoped that a festival would boost the depressed economy.^[9] Along withGeorge Naʻope and Gene Wilhelm, Hale organized the first Merrie Monarch Festival in 1964.^[9] This festival “consisted of a King Kalākaua beard look–alike contest, a barbershop quartet contest, a relay race, a re–creation of King Kalākaua's coronation, and a Holoku Ball among other events.”^[9]

George Naʻope was a well known Kumu Hula (teacher of Hawaiian dance) throughout the whole world. He studied hula from his great grandmother since he was three years old and established his own hula school, the George Naʻope Hula School, shortly after graduating high school. He taught hula in Japan, Guam, Australia, Germany, England, and both North and South America. His purpose in life was to preserve the Hawaiian culture, and he thought the festival was a perfect way of allowing the culture live on.^[10]

By 1968, the festival had waned in popularity.^[9]Dottie Thompson took over the festival as executive director, and transformed it into a private community organization.^[9] Thompson "wanted to move the festival more toward a Hawaiian theme," a goal that was accomplished by centering the festival events around hula.^[9] In 1971 Thompson and Naʻope introduced a hula competition.^[9] Nine wahine (female) hālau entered the competition in its first year, and in 1976 the festival opened the competition to kāne (male) hālau.^[9]

Today, the Merrie Monarch Festival is an annual week–long event culminating in three days of prestigious hula competition.^[11] It is now a non–profit organization registered with theState of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.^[4] Proceeds from the festival support educational scholarships, workshops, seminars, symposiums and the continuation of the event itself.^[4]

The Merrie Monarch Festival occurs annually in the spring. It runs from Easter Sunday morning to Saturday evening.^[3]

For the festival, a Royal Court is created to represent KingDavid Kalākaua and QueenKapiʻolani and their family. The Royal Court is coordinated by Uʻilani Peralto and Luana Kawelu, who each year search for a male and female to portray the king and queen. Peralto says, “the selection committee looks to find two individuals who exemplify maturity, humility, and pride in the Hawaiian culture.” The court consists of 22 members total, typically represented by the friends and family of the chosen king and queen. The rest of the royal court includes a counselor, kahu (caretaker), ladies-in-waiting, kahili bearers, chanters, and pu kane (conch shell blowers). Each person in the royal court is educated about their roles and Kalākaua's mission. These people who make up the Royal Court represent more than just Hawaiian history, but the Hawaiian spirit that continuously flows throughout the islands.^[12] The procession of the Royal Court precedes and ends each night of the Merrie Monarch hula competition, and they sit in state during the performances.

The first four days of the festival consist of free, non–competition events. These include performances by local and international halau at many venues aroundHilo, as well as an arts and crafts fair.^[3] The Wednesday Ho'ike Night Free exhibition at theEdith Kanakaʻole Stadium is very popular, and often features international hālau from other Pacific islands and Japan,^[13] and native or indigenous dancers and dances from locations such as Alaska and New Zealand. A final non–competition event, the Merrie Monarch Parade, takes place on Saturday morning.^[3]

The festivities culminate in the annual competitions held at the Edith Kanakaʻole Multipurpose Stadium inHoʻolulu Park.^[3] Dancers perform individually and in groups, with seven minutes allowed for each performance.^[14]

Thursday night is the first competition event. Individual female dancers compete for the title of Miss Aloha Hula.^[3] Each dancer performs in both traditional (hula kahiko) and modern (hula ʻauana) forms of hula, as well as chant (oli) during their kahiko performance.^[3]

Miss Aloha Hula is hula's top solo wahine, or women's, honor.^[15] Originally known as Miss Hula, the title was later changed to Miss Aloha Hula.^[15]Aloha Dalire, a kumu hula and hula dancer, won the first Miss Aloha Hula under her maiden name, Aloha Wong, in 1971.^[15][16]

The Miss Aloha Hula competition began in 1971. Each hālau may submit one contestant who is 18 to 25 years old and unmarried. Each contestant performs a hula kahiko and hula 'auana. For kahiko, they must perform an oli, ka'i, mele, and ho'i in the 7 minute time limit. No microphones are used for the oli and minimal makeup is applied. They are also judged on their costuming and leis.

There are two divisions of group competition, the male (kāne) division and the female (wahine) division.^[17] Friday night features hālau performing ancient style hula.^[3]

Saturday night features hālau performing modern style hula. Awards are also announced on Saturday night.^[3]

During their performances hālau and individuals are judged in a variety of categories. First, there is the entrance (kaʻi).^[18] During their chant (oli) and dance (hula), judges look for interpretation of the song being performed, expression of the hula, chant, or song, posture, precision, hand gestures, feet and body movement, grooming, and authenticity of costume and adornments.^[18] Finally there is the exit off stage (hoʻi).^[18] Performers are scored on each aspect of the performance.

Many believe that the Merrie Monarch Festival “brought about a renaissance of Hawaiian culture.”^[14] The festival identifies four goals related to Hawaiian culture, quoted from their website:

1. Perpetuating the traditional culture of the Hawaiian people;
2. Developing and augmenting a living knowledge of Hawaiian arts and crafts through workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and performances of the highest quality and authenticity;
3. Reaching those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate;
4. Enriching the future lives of all of Hawaii's children

The festival claims that through it, “thousands of people in Hawaii and throughout the world are learning about the history and culture of Hawaii.” The Merrie Monarch Festival “has received worldwide recognition for its historic and cultural significance.”^[4]

The festival was first broadcast on local TV in 1981, whenKITV brought the festival to homes across Hawaii. Coverage began as taped and edited highlight segments and eventually went live.^[19] KITV broadcast the festival for 29 years; in 2009, Luana Kawelu, who had recently taken over the job of president of the Merrie Monarch Festival, signed a deal with competitorKFVE to broadcast the festival in 2010 and beyond.^[20]

The hula competition is livestreamed for free all three nights on the website ofHawaii News Now, so that persons not living in Hawaii may enjoy it.^[21]

For somehālau, the festival does not end after the competition is over. Those who place in the competition are then invited to attend the Nā Hiwahiwa Festival in Tokyo, Japan. This festival includes Merrie Monarch Festival winners and Nā Hōku Hanohano winners. This festival is a celebration of the Hawaiian dancers and singers who received award-winning recognition in these competitions. Japan is one of the biggest supporters in the world of hula and the Hawaiian culture. Japanese hula schools do not compete in the Merrie Monarch Festival, but most of the schools travel to Hilo every year to support the hulahālau and experience the festivities Merrie Monarch has to offer.^[22]

Key:

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Notes:

• * denotes Winner of theHawaiian Language Award
• ** denotes winner that was later disqualified because she was too young

^[23]

Hālau may participate in the Wahine or Kāne divisions, or both. For each division, they must perform a group kahiko and ʻauana.

Color key

# = Nth Place Wahine# = Nth Place KāneO = OverallK = KahikoA = ʻAuanaM = Miss Aloha Hula

Notes:

• * denotes Former Miss Aloha Hula Winner
• ** denotes a tie

Jasmin Iolani Hakes' 2023 bookHula: A Novel, which wonHonolulu magazine's award for Book of the Year About Hawaii, revolves around the Merrie Monarch competition.^[24][25]

• Molokai Ka Hula Piko

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMerrie Monarch Festival.

• Merrie Monarch Festival official site
• Merrie Monarch Festival photographs
• Merrie Monarch Festival on KFVE live stream, news, and video clips
• Merrie Monarch Festival statistics and information

• Cultural festivals in Hawaii
• Festivals in Hawaii
• Tourist attractions in Hawaii County, Hawaii
• Polynesian festivals
• Dance festivals in the United States
• Festivals established in 1964
• Hilo, Hawaii
• 1964 establishments in Hawaii
• Dance in Hawaii
• Music festivals established in 1964
• Native American festivals
• Folk festivals in the United States
• Annual television shows
• Hula

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