ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu royal society honors 258th birthday of Queen Kaʻahumanu

The ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu Chapter IV Wailuku Island of Maui announces its Annual Queen’s Celebration at the Queen Kaʻahumanu Shopping Center in Kahului on Sunday, March 15, 2026.

The Society has been celebrating Queen Kaʻahumanu’s birthday anniversary at the shopping center since 1995, when the Tom Vaught Queen’s statue was commissioned and placed at the mall.

“We are both humbled and excited to invite our Maui Nui community to join us as we gather at Center Stage to share traditional music, mele and hula in honor of her birthday,” said Pelekikena, Stacey Shibao. The music, hula and lei draping portion of the event begins at 10 a.m.

“We will continue our tradition of Lei Draping her statue and the public is welcome to bring a 6 foot open lei as Hoʻokupu during the draping ceremony. This will be followed by our very first Queen’s Gallery Experience,” said Shibao.

This year marks Queen Kaʻahumanu’s 258th birthday anniversary, a very special occasion as the ʻAhahui Society will be sharing, for the first time, their one-of-kind Queen Kaʻahumanu Portrait gifted to the ʻAhahui over 30 years ago.

The Queen’s Gallery Experience runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and is an interactive art display featuring culture, kupuna and moʻolelo. It is located on the first floor bay next to Bath & Body Works. The Experience is presented by members who will share their aloha by honoring the Queen. Additionally local artists Philip Sabado and Sean Baba will be paying tribute with their special pieces honoring the Queen’s time as ruler from Lahaina, Maui.

The Gallery experience includes a “talk story” about the Queen’s Portrait as told by the ladies of ʻAhahui. There will be ʻAhahui artworks to enjoy, lei hulu (feather lei) demonstration and kapa moʻolelo followed by a tribute to Lucy Peabody and the lineage legacy of the society. ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu Chapter IV has a lineage of nearly 700 Native Hawaiian women and is in its 103rd year since its establishment in 1923.

The society honors the Queen through care of the elderly, benevolent support, promotes culture, history, wellness, Christian and Hawaiian values. ʻAhahui Kaʻahumanu is the oldest Royal Benevolent Society in Hawaiʻi, started in 1864 by Princess Victoria Kamamalu. The Maui Chapter IV is one of nine societies with residence throughout Hawaiʻi including Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island, Molokaʻi and also on Maui, the Hāna Chapter which is the moku of her birthplace.

The all day event is free to the public. ‘Ahahui Ka’ahumanu Society encourages all Maui ʻohana, keiki, kupuna, hula hālau, visitors and local organizations to stop by and remember Maui’s own and Hawaiʻi’s Kuhina Nui, Queen Elizabeth Kaʻahumanu.