With COVID-19 case counts on the decline, the 59th annual Merrie Monarch Festival will return to its customary schedule starting on Easter Sunday.
The festival’s hula competition also will return to its accustomed dates and times. On Thursday, April 21, 10 young women will vie to become Miss Aloha Hula, the most prestigious honor a solo hula dancer can achieve.
On Friday, April 22, 18 hula halau will compete in the group hula kahiko (ancient hula) competition. And on Saturday, April 23, the same halau will compete in the group hula ‘auana (modern hula) competition, followed by the awards ceremony.
It all takes place at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium in Hilo.
“We’ll have 17 wahine performances and seven kane performances, 24 performances in all, because some halau are bringing both kane and wahine dancers,” Merrie Monarch Festival President Luana Kawelu said.
“Everybody who enters the stadium is required to be fully vaccinated and have to show their vaccination card,” she said. “They don’t have to be boosted, but they do have to have the full vaccination.”
Face masks also are a requirement for those inside the stadium.
It’s a return to, or at least a giant step toward, normalcy for Hilo’s premier event. In 2020, the festival was canceled because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, halau danced in late June in an empty stadium, except for judges and festival staff, accompanied by prerecorded music instead of live musicians. The competition was recorded on video, then televised the first three evenings in July, with the results kept secret for the week in-between.
Prior to the pandemic, the stadium, which holds about 4,200 audience members, was customarily sold out. This year, in-person attendance is being capped at 2,000 each evening to accommodate social distancing.
There will be no general public ticket sales as in the past, which means in-stadium audiences will be comprised mostly of the halau and their supporters.
“Ever since my mom’s time, we’ve given all the participating halau 75 tickets, so that’s what I’m doing this year,” Kawelu said.
Two of the 18 participating halau are from Hawaii Island, and they are the same two that danced in last year’s competition: Halau Hula Ke ‘Olu Makani O Mauna Loa of Volcano, under the direction of kumu hula Meleana Manuel; and Halau Kala‘akeakauikawekiu of Kailua-Kona, under the direction of kumu hula Aloha Victor.
Both halau will dance in the wahine group competition, while Victor will also field a Miss Aloha Hula contestant.
Returning to defend their overall and kane overall titles are Kawaili‘ula of Kailua and Manoa, Oahu, under the direction of kumu hula Chinky Mahoe. Mahoe will bring both kane and wahine dancers and a Miss Aloha Hula candidate.
Also returning are the wahine overall winners and overall runners-up, Halau Kekuaokala‘au‘ala‘iliahi of Wailuku, Maui, under the direction of na kumu hula ‘Iliahi and Haunani Parades. They’ll also have kane and wahine dancers and a Miss Aloha Hula candidate.
Competing halau will dance to live music from the stageside band pit, much of it played by Hawaiian music’s most popular entertainers.
As usual, the entire competition can be viewed live on K-5 television, with the return of Paula Akana as one of the hosts. New faces among the commentators will be kumu hula Michael Casupang and Hawaiian language and music expert Alika Young.
For the general public who want to see Merrie Monarch Festival performances live, the Ho‘ike, a noncompetition exhibition of hula and Pacific Basin dance, will return on Wednesday, April 20. This year, tickets will be sold — and the price will be right.
“We’ll have 2,000 tickets for $5 each, first-come, first served, selling them here,” Kawelu said, referring to the Merrie Monarch office, which is next to the stadium.
Hilo’s Halau O Kekuhi, under the direction of kumu hula and Merrie Monarch judge Nalani Kanaka‘ole Zane, will perform in the Wednesday night spectacular, as they have in every Merrie Monarch Ho‘ike since 1997.
Also featured are the Tahitian dance troupe Heiva Nui Hawaii, under the direction of Kevin and Auli‘i Kama, and the Lexington Ladies, a group of women who performed decades ago at New York City’s Lexington Hotel, which featured top-notch island entertainment in its legendary Hawaiian Room.
Everybody loves a parade, and the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade will take to the streets of downtown Hilo once again on Saturday, April 23.
The ever-popular Merrie Monarch Hawaiian Arts and Crafts Fair also will return Wednesday through Saturday at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
It appears one Merrie Monarch event that won’t be making it back this year is the Ho‘olaule‘a on Easter Sunday. While it hadn’t been canceled as of press time, Kawelu said she’s “leaning toward” doing so because of logistical challenges.
“We’ve missed everyone. It’s been difficult the last couple of years,” Kawelu said. “But it’s really good to be back.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.