The 79th Annual Aloha Festivals Island of Hawaiʻi proudly celebrates the richness of Hawaiian culture, language, arts, and traditional practices. Rooted in centuries of ancestral knowledge, the festival is dedicated to preserving and sharing Hawaiʻi’s living traditions by honoring historical protocols and providing space to teach, celebrate, and uplift Native Hawaiian customs. Through these efforts, we welcome both kamaʻāina and visitors to participate, observe, and gain a deeper understanding of the value and global significance of Hawaiʻi’s people and culture.

Our festivities span the island and feature a vibrant series of makahiki-style events, festivals, and contests, including the Moananui Ocean Festival, the Paniolo Festival, the E Laka Hoʻi: Origins of Hula Festival, the Akulikuli Lei and Music Festival, and the prestigious Ali‘i Ball. Each of these events offers an authentic cultural experience—inviting all to engage with Hawaiʻi’s traditions while also educating and reconnecting local communities with the origins and continued importance of these practices. Together, we celebrate, perpetuate, and showcase the heartbeat of our heritage.

 

Aloha Festivals Island of Hawaiʻi is a revitalized celebration with deep ancestral roots. Reestablished in 2024, this renewed festival carries the legacy of the original Aloha Week, Aloha Festivals, and Hawaiʻi Island Festivals once cherished and led by the Waimea community, but with a strong emphasis on cultural preservation, practice and perpetuation. 

 

After a pause during the pandemic, the time was taken to reflect, restructure, and re-imagine a festival worthy of the past and prepared for the future. Now guided by a fresh vision and grounded in tradition, the new festival committee is blending innovative ideas with time-honored customs—reviving beloved contests, signature events, and festive celebrations that honor the akua, the kanaka and the ʻāina. The festival is proudly operated by the Waimea Hawaiian Homesteaders’ Association, a 501(c)(3) Native Hawaiian organization, under the leadership of Festival Director Kumu Micah Kamohoalii.