Polynesian Voyaging Society to celebrate 50th anniversary of Hōkūleʻa’s maiden voyage

ʻIolani Palace and Inspiration Hawaiʻi Museum, in partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hōkūleʻa’s maiden voyage to Tahiti and back with hula, music, panels, free admission and a film festival on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

ʻIolani Palace 

Kamaʻāina Sunday, June 14, 2026
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Free and open to the public on the Palace Grounds

• 9 a.m. – Hula performance by Kūkūʻena, a cohort of faculty, staff, and students from UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College
• 10 a.m. – panel discussion in the Barracks Room featuring crew members of Hōkūleʻa’s 1976 maiden voyage, moderated by Paula Akana, president and CEO of The Friends of ʻIolani Palace
• 10:30 a.m. – Kumu Hula Snowbird Bento and Ka Pā Hula O Ka Lei Lehua
• Noon – Pwo Navigator ʻŌnohi Paishon and the Hōkūleʻa Drydock Band performs 

Festivities include storytelling, voyaging and star compass demonstrations by PVS crew members, hands-on activities such as knot tying and mini canoe model building. Short Hōkūleʻa videos will be shown in the Barracks Room. Keiki and cultural activities, including kupeʻe making and a special cultural workshop led by legacy weaver Keoua Nelson. Free self-led audio tours for kamaʻāina with a valid Hawaiʻi State ID, Hawaiʻi driver’s license or proof of Hawaiʻi residency.  There is a limit of one ticket per person.  

The Kīnaʻu Gate on Richards Street opens at 8:30 a.m., and the Kauikeaouli Gate on King Street opens at 9 a.m.

For more information visit www.iolanipalace.org/visit/kamaaina-sundays/

Inspiration Hawaiʻi Museum

Hōkūleʻa Film Festival Day 1 (the first of 2 days in June)
900 Richards St., across from ʻIolani Palace

Sunday, June 14, 2026
2:30 – 5 p.m.

Films: 

• “Hōkūleʻa: Star of Gladness” – a PVS film by Tip Davis and narrated by original 1976 crew member John Kruse. The film documents the building and launching of Hōkūleʻa in 1974 and 1975.
• “Hōkūleʻa: Ka Waʻa Kaulua” – a PVS film by Chuck Larson and Marlene Among about Hōkūleʻa’s initial training sails and her maiden voyage to Tahiti, using footage never seen since 1983.
• “The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific” – a 1983 film by Hōkūleʻa crew member and author of Hawaiʻiki Rising Sam Low.  Sam filmed with Hōkūleʻa’s first navigator Mau Piailug of Micronesia on Mau’s home island of Satawal.

Hōkūleʻa Film Festival Day 2

900 Richards St., across from ʻIolani Palace
Saturday, June 20, 2026
3 – 6 p.m.

Films:

• “Hōkūleʻa: Proud Voyage Home” – A 1987 KGMB special by Elisa Yadao and Cliff Watson, documenting the Voyage of Rediscovery, which took Hōkūleʻa for the first time to the Cook Islands, Aotearoa, Tonga and Samoa.
• “Papa Mau: The Wayfinder” – A 2010 documentary by Naʻālehu Anthony on Master Navigator Mau Piailug and his central role in reviving traditional non-instrument navigation in Hawaiʻi and Polynesia.
• “Hōkūleʻa: Finding the Language of the Navigator” – A 2023 PVS documentary by Ty Sanga  follows cultural anthropologist Wade Davis and Pwo Navigator Nainoa Thompson as they contemplate the mysteries of traditional navigation and a future inspired by the language of the navigator.