#Hālau o Ka Hanu Lehua

Kahiko night at the Merrie Monarch Festival featured hula in the ancient style with 27 groups performing Friday night in the annual competition in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. The festival continues tonight with ʻauana or modern hula, followed by results from the 62nd event.

The spirit of the season is in full swing as Wailuku First Friday brings the holiday cheer with “Winter in Wailuku,” happening on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, from 6 to 9 p.m. The Main Stage will light up the evening with performances by the Kamehameha Schools Maui Hawaiian Ensemble and Hālau O Ka Hanu Lehua.

Hula O Nā Keiki – a solo competition for young hula practitioners – returned to the Outrigger Kāʻanapali Beach Resort this past weekend. All eight contestants represented their hālau and hula lineages. The two overall winners were Khandi-Pearl Holi and Luke Hilinaʻi Aquino – both students of Hālau o ka Hanu Lehua, under the direction of Kumu Hula Carlson Kamaka Kukona III.

The 2024 Emma Farden Sharpe Hula Festival takes place on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center. The event features free keiki activities, workshops, Hawaiʻi made artisans and hula accompanied by Hawaiian music.

Fairmont Kea Lani hosts “Behind the Curtain: A Journey Through Hula,” an event dedicated to celebrating and sharing the art of hula, taking place Saturday, June 1, 2024. Through the lens of three Maui-based hālau, guests will hear first-hand what it takes to prepare for the prestigious Merrie Monarch hula competition and experience the beautiful art form as the hālau perform a hana hou of presentations shared during the festival this past April.

Ka Lā ‘Ōnohi Mai O Ha‘eha‘e under the direction of Nā Kumu Hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes of Oʻahu took the overall title at the 61st Annual Merrie Monarch Festival, in Hilo Hawaiʻi. The men of Mauiʻs Hālau Kekuaokalā‘au‘ala‘iliahi took home third place awards for kāne kahiko and ‘auana performances, as well as the festival’s third place overall award for men. In the women’s division, Hālau Nā Lei Kaumaka O Uka earned a tie for fifth place in the wahine kahiko division.

Kahiko night at the Merrie Monarch Festival featured hula in the ancient style with 29 groups performing Friday night in the annual competition in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. The festival continues tonight with ʻauana or modern hula, followed by results from the 61st event.

Maui has four hālau competing in the 2024 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, as the event’s competition kicks off this evening at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Tonight’s competition features 13 women vying for the title of Miss Aloha Hula 2024. Maui entrants include: Shayla Angeline Kamalei Ballesteros and Amedée Kauakohemālamalama Conley-Kapoi.

Maui has four hālau competing in the 2023 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, as the event concludes this evening at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Friday night the competition featured kahiko or ancient hula. Tonight, groups will perform ʻauana or modern hula, followed by results from the 60th event.

Agnes Renee Leihiwahiwaikapolionāmakua Thronas Brown was named Miss Aloha Hula 2023 at the 60th Annual Merrie Monarch Festival on Thursday night at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. This is the third year in a row that the hālau from Pūʻahuʻula, Koʻolaupoko, Oʻahu took top honors in the soloist competition. Maui’s own Karlee Pōhaikealoha Rita Chong-Kee of Hālau Kekuaokalāʻauʻalaʻiliahi, under the direction of Nā Kumu Haunani and ʻIliahi Paredes, brought home the 4th place award.

The 2022 Miss and Master Hula O Nā Keiki Overall Winners were Noah Kazuo Piʻimaiwaʻa Andrade and Lennon Aiko Kuʻualoha Nakada, both of Hālau Hiʻiakaināmakalehua under the direction of Robert Keʻano Kaʻupu IV and Lono Padilla.

Two Maui hālau hula are competing in this year’s Merrie Monarch Festival as the event takes place with modifications in Hilo at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium. Competition is set for April 21-23, 2022.

Rosemary Kaʻimilei Keamoai-Strickland, from Ka Lā ʻŌnohi Mai O Haʻehaʻe under the direction of kumu hula Tracie and Keawe Lopes, took home the 2021 title of Miss Aloha Hula.