Ke Au Hawaiʻi Festival to feature Hawaiian entertainment, market and food

HONOLULU (July 30, 2018) – Thousands will gather at Aloha Stadium this Saturday for the Ke Au Hawaiʻi Festival, a celebration of Native Hawaiian achievement featuring Hawaiian music, hula, food, a market and speeches about Native Hawaiian issues.

The festival is part of the “Year of the Hawaiian,” an effort to recognize the Native Hawaiian community’s accomplishments over the decades and to promote Hawaiʻi’s indigenous people’s continued pursuit of social justice.  In addition, this year marks the anniversaries for many significant historical events in Hawaiʻi, including:

• 240 years since the arrival of Captain Cook;
• 125 years since the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom;
• 100 years since the establishment of the first Hawaiian Civic Club;
• 40 years since the 1978 Constitutional Convention, which led to, among other major Hawaiian achievements, the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the designation of the Hawaiian language as a co-official language of the state; and
• 25 years since the adoption of the Apology Resolution, through which the U.S. apologized for its role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The festival comes 30 years after more than 40,000 Native Hawaiians gathered at Aloha Stadium for Hoʻolokahi, the culminating event of the first Year of the Hawaiian, which was designated by Gov. George Ariyoshi.

This year has been designated “Year of the Hawaiian” by the OHA Board of Trustees via a resolution passed in January and by Gov. David Ige through a proclamation signed in February.

The Ke Au Hawaiʻi Festival will include Hawaiian music from ʻEkolu, Sudden Rush and Mana Maoli, featuring Paula Fuga, Kimié Miner and Kaumakaʻiwa Kanakaʻole. The following hālau hula will also perform: Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima, Hālau Nā Kamalei o Lililehua, Ka Pā Hula o ka Lei Lehua and Na Pualei o Likolehua.

Ke Au Hawaiʻi is sponsored by OHA, Kamehameha Schools, Kaiwi Entertainment, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Hawaiʻi’s Finest andʿŌlelo Community Media.

ʻŌlelo will be providing a live broadcast of the 5-hour show on Channel 53, and live streamed at olelo.org/OleloNet, on their Facebook and Youtube, so anyone in the world can watch this year’s celebration. Nā Leo o Hawaiʻi will also carry the live feed on their public access channel reaching audiences on Hawaiʻi Island. 

Ke Au Hawaiʻi Festival

Time: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m., Sat., Aug. 4

Location: Aloha Stadium Lower Lot

Tickets: $15 for adults; keiki 10 and under are free

For tickets and more information, visit www.keauhawaii.com.