The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival 2025

Celebrating Hawaiian Culture

The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival in Hilo, Hawaii is the biggest celebration of hula anywhere on the planet. This year’s week long festival runs from April 20-26, 2025.

With more than 60 years of festivals completed, the festival organizers always put on a great show! This week-long festival begins on Easter Sunday each year, and it’s more than just a hula competition. It’s a vibrant display of the restoration and resilience of Hawaiian culture.

I’m lucky to live in Hilo on the Big Island and have this amazing festival nearby every year. Excitement in the community starts building months in advance.

Back in 1963 when the festival began, Hawaiian culture was declining after decades of Western influence that suppressed traditional practices. The festival started as a way to revitalize interest in hula and the Hawaiian language. This small community event is now a world-renowned extravaganza that attracts thousands of spectators and hula enthusiasts from dozens of countries. It’s now the Big Island of Hawai‘i’s largest event of the year, and people from across the globe watch it on TV and catch live streams online.

King Kalākaua, the Merrie Monarch

The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival honors King David Kalākaua, nicknamed the “Merrie Monarch,” who was instrumental in preserving and promoting Hawaiian traditions during the late 19th century. He loved Hawaiian music, dance, and the performing arts.

Kalākaua famously said, “Hula is the language of the heart, therefore the heartbeat of Hawaiian people.”

He lived during a period when Hawaiian culture was subjugated by foreign influences. The Christian missionaries disapproved of the hula. In response, Kalākaua worked to revive and preserve the art of chanting and hula. He held grand celebrations at ‘Iolani Palace where Hawaiians could be proud of their song and dance traditions again.

For more on the life of King David Kalākaua, visit the DAWSON website.

Charming Hilo Town

This pretty little coastal town on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi overflows with green space thanks to the rain that keeps everything lush.

Nestled at the foot of majestic Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in Hawai‘i, Hilo’s population doubles during Merrie Monarch Week. There are hula performances at the hotels in town during lunch hour, and shoppers keep the local stores and arts and crafts fairs busy.

Many locals request vacation time during festival week so that they can enjoy the full experience of our hula festival. We call it ‘playing tourist’. It’s one of the quirks of living in a tourist destination.

For visitors who come for the festival, it’s just a 40-minute drive to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The park is home to Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes.

During Merrie Monarch Week, the smell of flowers and island greenery scents the air. Plumeria, tuberose, puakenikeni, orchid, maile, ginger, ohiʻa lehua, ʻilima, and other tropical flowers and plants are strung into leis and worn by everyone.

To find out more about Hilo, check out the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association or Destination Hilo.

It’s All About the Hula

Hula is more than just a dance. It is a storytelling art form that conveys the history, genealogy, mythology, and values of the Hawaiian people. A student of hula often spends years within a hula hālau (hula school) to discipline body, mind, and spirit to become a Merrie Monarch dancer.

At the heart of every halau is the kumu hula (hula teacher), a respected individual who carries the responsibility of preserving and passing down the knowledge of hula. The Merrie Monarch Festival showcases the work of kumu hula, highlighting their expertise, dedication, and mentorship. The relationships between kumu hula and their students are deeply rooted in tradition. The festival serves as a testament to their lifelong commitment to hula.

This isn’t Hollywood hula. This is the most authentic hula you’ll see anywhere.

To keep it that way, the competition has judges. These men and women are chosen for their knowledge of Hawaiian culture and language. Most are long-time kumu hula (hula teachers). The judges sit at ground level right at the front edge of the stage so they can study everything about the dance performances.

Scorecards are picked up after each halau performs, and even the judges don’t know the outcome until the awards are announced on the final night of the competition.

To learn more about Hula, visit the Hula Preservation Society website.

Festival Event Schedule

The festival is a week-long celebration featuring cultural events, exhibitions, the prestigious hula competition spanning three nights, and a large community parade.

Sunday, April 20

Hoʻolauleʻa (celebration)

9:00 a.m. Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium

Free admission to watch performances by local Big Island hālau

Free Mid-day Entertainment

Daily (Monday through Friday)

Entertainment at the Grand Naniloa Hotel (Noon)
and the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel (1 p.m.).

Craft Fairs and Cultural Demonstrations

Throughout the week, craft fairs and cultural exhibitions provide opportunities to explore Hawaiian artistry. Traditional artisans showcase their work, including kapa (bark cloth) making, featherwork, lauhala weaving, and lei making.

Merrie Monarch Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 23rd through Friday, April 25th

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, April 26th
Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium

An annual favorite, this free event features local artists, crafters, and entertainment.

You can’t turn a corner anywhere in Hilo without seeing Hawaiian arts and crafts for sale. They’re everywhere during festival week. There are also official Merrie Monarch T-shirts, event programs, tote bags, and posters that command a high price as collectors’ items after the festival ends each year.

Wednesday, April 23

Hōʻike Night

6:00 pm Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium

An exhibition night of hula and island dances from the Pacific
The performances are free to the public, no tickets required

Hō‘ike Night is popular with Hilo’s community. No one competes that night. After work, people rush to stand in long lines to get in, and there’s no need to make dinner that night. The food vendors are busy making Hawaiian laulau and poi, chili and rice, or spam musubi — all local favorites.

Thursday, April 24

Miss Aloha Hula Competition

6:00 pm Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium

Individual competition for the title of Miss Aloha Hula with contestants performing hula kahiko, hula ʻauana, and oli (chant).

The title of Miss Aloha Hula is one of the most coveted honors in the hula community, recognizing excellence in technique, interpretation, and cultural understanding.  The dance performances are televised in Hawai’i beginning on Thursday night of festival week.

Each hula hālau chooses their most skilled dancer to enter the Miss Aloha Hula Competition. About a dozen women compete in this solo competition annually. Many of those who have won this contest have gone on to become kumu hula (hula teachers).

Hula Kahiko and Hula ‘Auana Group Competitions

The heart of the Merrie Monarch Festival lies in the group hula competitions. Male and female groups perform in two categories:

• Hula Kahiko: This is the ancient style of hula with dancers wearing traditional attire, performing chants and using percussion instruments. The movements are powerful, precise, and deeply rooted in history.
• Hula ‘Auana: This modern style of hula incorporates Hawaiian melodies and contemporary influences. The performances are graceful, fluid, and emotionally expressive.

The dancers are judged on interpretation, precision, posture, and overall presentation. The competition is intense, with hālau spending months, sometimes years, preparing for this prestigious event.

Friday, April 25                                                                                                  

Group Hula Kahiko                                         

6:00 pm Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium 

Hālau perform ancient-style dances

Saturday, April 26

Group Hula ʻAuana & Awards

6:00 pm at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium

Hālau perform modern-style dances, followed by an awards presentation for all group winners.

Saturday, April 26

Merrie Monarch Royal Parade

10:30 am through Historic Downtown Hilo

One of the festival’s most entertaining events for the entire family

With everyone excitedly waiting for the final night of performances on Saturday night, the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade is a welcome break in competition. Marching bands, a Royal Court with an honorary King and Queen depicting King Kalākaua and his Queen Kapiʻolani, the new Miss Aloha Hula, Hawaiian entertainers on floats, and pāʻū riders — all wind through downtown Hilo. Pāʻū riders are women on horseback dressed in flowing satin gowns that almost reach the ground. Even the horses are dressed up!

How to Get Tickets to the Merrie Monarch Festival

Planning ahead is the key. Tickets are only sold by mail in December of the previous year. An announcement will be made on the festival’s official website a few weeks before the sale starts. They only accept payment the old-fashioned way—money order or cashier’s check. And they check postmarks. If your envelope is postmarked before the sale begins, your request will be returned to you.

The Edith Kanaka‘ole Stadium’s capacity is only 5,000 people and tickets are limited. Despite the popularity of the festival, tickets are still at an affordable $40 total to attend all three nights of competition.

If attending in person isn’t possible, the Merrie Monarch website hosts free streaming online during competition nights.

The Global Reach of Hula

The Merrie Monarch Hula Festival has played a vital role in the resurgence of Hawaiian culture and identity. The festival has restored authenticity to hula, reinforcing its sacred and historical significance. Additionally, the festival has inspired a new generation of Hawaiians to learn and perpetuate their cultural heritage and Hawaiian language.

Hawaiian kumu hula now have hula hālau in states across the U.S. and in foreign countries like Japan, Canada, and Mexico. Hula and the Merrie Monarch’s vision has become a global phenomenon.