Maui Arts & Entertainment

The winners have been announced for the 17th Annual Kū Mai Ka Hula competition, held on Saturday, Sept. 14 in Castle Theater at Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Eight award-winning hālau from Maui, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, and the continental US participated this year.

A site blessing for the Hālau of ʻŌiwi Art was held on Sunday, marking a significant step forward in the creation of a cultural center dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Native Hawaiian arts. The event was attended by kumu hula, representatives from the County of Maui, project managers, and construction contractors. In response […]

Following a five-year hiatus, the Maui Okinawan Festival returns to the Maui Mall Village on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Kamaʻāina and visitors can savor Okinawan food while enjoying high-energy music and dance, cultural displays with live demonstrations and interactive activities and shopping at the festival’s craft fair featuring Maui and Oʻahu vendors. 

Film festival favorite “My Partner,” a tender Boys’ Love drama and coming-of-age tale shot in Lahaina prior to the devastating fire in 2023, will be available on major streaming VOD (video on demand) platforms beginning Sept. 24, 2024.

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation welcomes renowned Hawaiian musician, Cody Pueo Pata as its featured artist for the September edition of the free Hawaiian Music Series. The event takes place at the Lahaina Civic Center Amphitheater on Thursday, Sept. 26, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

The 44th annual Hawai‘i International Film Festival (HIFF44) presented by Halekulani will showcase 92 feature films, 114 shorts, 40 world premiers and 31 US premieres across the islands from Oct. 3 to Nov. 10.

University of Hawai‘i Maui College Associate Professor Dr. Joseph Keola Donaghy documents and explores the role that musical performance and composition practice played in efforts to defend Maunakea and how these practices reflected the idea of kapu aloha that was prevalent among kia‘i (protectors).

Queen Kaʻahumanu Center launched its inaugural 808 Bash on Aug. 24, bringing Maui together in celebration of community. Organizers say the success of this event has set the tone for what is hoped to become a new annual tradition for the island.

Festivals of Aloha has announced its 2024 theme, “Ka Laʻi o Hauola – The Calm of Hauola,” honoring the revered Pōhakuohauola (Hauola Stone) of Lahaina, a historic symbol of healing and restoration. As Maui Nui communities continue to recover from the devastating wildfires of Aug. 8, 2023, this year’s theme reflects the collective hope for peace and comfort, echoing the stone’s ancient legacy of health and renewal, organizers said.

“American Idol” finalist Oliver Steele is set to perform at Alaloa Lounge on Wednesday, Sept. 4 and Thursday, Sept. 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. 

The Maui Youth Philharmonic Orchestra is offering classes in classical music this fall at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului, upstairs between Central Maui Tax and the Fun Factory.

This month, guests can enjoy performances by talented local artists at The Shops at Wailea every Wednesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. This includes Tarvin Makia (Sept. 4), Nevah Too Late (Sept. 11), Rama Camarillo (Sept. 18) and Mondokane (Sept. 25).

Slightly Stoopid is set to perform at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center with special guests Steel Pulse and Makua Rothman on Sunday, Sept. 15. Gates open at the outdoors Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheater at 5 p.m., and the show begins at 6 p.m.

The Wailuku First Friday street party on Sept. 6, 2024 kick’s-off the two month Hawaiian Showcase “Festivals of Aloha.” The event, from 6 to 9 p.m., features entertainment by Maui Music Mission, Te Ohi Nui and Hālau Keola Aliʻi O Kekai. The Hammah House Band celebrates their release of the single “Like Mehk,” with music on the Market St. Stage.

“Paper Chase,” a documentary film that delves into the history of Japanese-American news media, will be screened at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center. The screening is free of charge. Doors open at 1 p.m. This event was scheduled for screening last year, but it was postponed because of the August 2023 Maui wildfires.

Uncle Bully’s Surf Skool, from Inflatable Film, is about local Maui surf instructor Robert “Bully” Kotter and his mentorship of underserved youth during the pandemic. This powerful story about one person’s quest to shape a hopeful future for the next generation is one of the last stories filmed in Lahaina before the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires.

Advancing mentorship opportunities for emerging Native Hawaiian filmmakers currently living in Hawai‘i, the Sundance Institute’s 2024 Indigenous Program this month wrapped its short film-focused intensive earlier in Honolulu—the Sundance Indigenous Intensive x Hawai‘i.

Now in its third year, the c Carmen Hulu Lindsey Leo Ha’iha’i Falsetto Contest will be held on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea. Doors to the Ballroom open at 5:30 p.m., and the contest will commence at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

The 2024 Emma Farden Sharpe Hula Festival Legacy Award was presented to Carolee “Doll” Aricayos on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center. Aunty Doll, as she is affectionately known, was recognized for her lifelong dedication to hula and culture.

Kū Mai Ka Hula (“Hula Appears”) returns to the Castle Theater for its 17th annual event Sept. 14 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC) as Maui’s premier annual competition – and Maui’s only adult hula competition. A related presentation and discussion, The Uluwehi Project, will take place Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater. Tickets for both events are on sale now online only at MauiArts.org.