Culture: Honolulu Festival

The 12th annual Honolulu Festival dances into town March 10 to 12.

A member of the Hawai’i United Okinawan Association in the 2005 Honolulu Festival Grand Parade. photo: courtesy of the Honolulu Festival

The Honolulu Festival, which got its start in 1995, promotes Hawaiian and Pacific Rim cultures through three days of traditional arts and crafts, songs and dances created and performed by artists from Hawai’i, Japan and beyond. Last year’s event drew some 5,000 performers and 90,000 local, Mainland and international attendees, and organizers are expecting a similar turnout this year.

You can look forward to plenty of dancing, whether it’s hula, square dancing or customary minyo (folk song) dancing, as well as flower arranging, origami and quilt making. Don’t-miss acts include Descendance, a celebrated aborigine dance troupe, and Shishi Odori (Deer Dancers) from Japan, who don ornate costumes and headdresses.

Events take place at three different locations in Honolulu–the Convention Center, Ala Moana Center and DFS Galleria, culminating in the Grand Parade on the 12th from 4 to 8 p.m. The parade makes its way down Kalakaua Avenue through Waikiki, and includes six performance stages and floats galore, including the must-see Giant Hirosaki Neputa, or Illuminated Lantern float.