Hawaii's culture, customs, traditions and aloha spirit will be showcased and celebrated in one of Hawaii's most-prominent events, the Aloha Festivals. This eight-week, six island annual celebration returns once again bigger and better than ever.
This Year's Theme
The mission of the Aloha Festivals is to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian culture and to celebrate the diverse customs, traditions and aloha spirit of Hawaii. This year's Festival theme is Ke Kahua Lani O Hawaii - Hawaii's Beloved Royal Playgrounds.The theme was chosen carefully "in an effort to preserve history, recreate what once was, to believe and to dare to revive such a rich history and its cultural ties for Hawaii's children."
Here is how the festival organizers explain their choice of this year's theme.
The ancient Hawaiian world extending from the Northernmost island of Nihoa beyond Kauai to South Point, at the farthest tip of the island of Hawaii, was rich with noteworthy occasions. The daily social climate among the ali'i included taking time off for the pleasures of rest, relaxation, leisure and social gatherings, talks and games.Playgrounds is an appropriate term for characterizing where many of the ali'i class would partake of an excursion down to the sea, up to the mountains, or to places of amusement, seek ancestral ties in order to find peace, tranquility, and spirituality to replenish their hearts and minds, and to continue the law of the gods, the land, its people and the kapu system as supreme rulers over Hawaii.
Major events in Hawaii's ancient history took place at historical Hawaiian sites, monuments, ancient temples, landmarks, fishponds, shores, beaches, mountainsides, palaces, recreational parks, streams, landscapes, homes and secluded hideaways. These places and historical sites are recorded in chants, legends and history books, and are passed along through family traditions and lineages dating back more than a thousand years.
Although Hawaii has always experienced social change, the 19th and 20th centuries would prove to be unprecedented in economic and social expansion. The influences of modern technology, growth and Western and European persuasions brought yet another level of entertainment to the ali'i in later years. Royal balls, high tea, inaugurations, new sports and other modern games would change the face of Hawaiian social interactions forever. Nevertheless, history documents the constant effort to know and to study Hawaii's rich cultural past and how the royal families would indulge in those moments of rest, relaxation, and playful moments.
Hawaii retains much of her cherished spirituality and social way of life because of these noteworthy occasions set forth by our ancestors to pass on from generation to generation. The royal playgrounds retaining that rich history and remain so that future generations may walk in the footsteps of Hawaii's royal past with dignity, pride, respect, and a sense of belonging.
Hawaii's beloved royal playgrounds are symbolic and unique to each neighboring island according to its ali'i and its written history. Each is filled with stories, legends and chants worthy of being told, worthy of being shared.
History of the Aloha Festivals
What is known today as Aloha Festivals was created in 1946 as Aloha Week, a cultural celebration of Hawaii's music, dance and history, intended to preserve the unique traditions of Hawaii. It took a year to plan the first Aloha Festivals, and in the fall of 1947 the festivities began. Since then, the celebration has expanded to include over 300 events on six Hawaiian islands over a two-month period. In 1991 the name of the celebration was changed to Aloha Festivals.The Festivals now encompass all of the many and varied cultures of the people of Hawaii, be they Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino or any other races that call Hawaii their home.
Each year, nearly 30,000 volunteers participate in the staging of the events, which are attended by nearly one million people, in what has been called "a festival truly of the people of Hawaii by the people of Hawaii."
Fall was chosen for the Aloha Festivals for two primary reasons; first to honor the makahiki, the ancient Hawaiian time of music, dance and feasting when war was not permitted, and second to attract visitors to the islands after the summer rush. Today, the celebration has become an island tradition.
The festivals are funded through appropriated funds from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, corporate sponsorships and private donations, as well as through the sale of Aloha Festivals ribbons and other merchandise.
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