PHOTO, VIDEO UPDATE: Hilo Celebrates ‘Hōkūleʻa’s Arrival

The Hōkūleʻa voyaging canoe will leave Kailua-Kona on April 1, departing for Hilo, where she will be docked until Saturday, April 28.

From April 2 through 28, 2018, Hōkūleʻa will make its first visit to Hilo since departing in 2014 for its three-year Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage.

A celebration is being held for Hōkūleʻa’s arrival at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo on Monday, April 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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VIDEO: Hōkūleʻa arrives at Wailoa Harbor, April 2, 2018.

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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:15 a.m.: Music by Lito Arkangel
11:30 a.m.: Formal Homecoming Ceremony featuring Master of Ceremonies Patrick Kahawaiola`a, Snow Bird Bento, Paula Fuga, Keaukaha Elementary School, Malana Mai
11:45 a.m.: Ed “Z” Bushor
Noon: Mayor Harry Kim
12:10 p.m.: Lito Arkangel
12:30 p.m.: Closing

Hōkūleʻa crew will host free, dockside canoe tours and education expo, talk story sessions with the crew and other family friendly events that are free to the public.

• Wailoa Harbor: Saturday, April 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 181 Manono St. in Hilo.
• Kawaihae Harbor: Saturday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The canoe will be moored through the first week of May.

Additional events will take place during the two-month Hawaiʻi Island engagement, including the first ever in-water greeting of the Hōkūleʻa in Hilo on April 2.

As Hōkūleʻa enters Hilo Bay on April 2, KapohoKine Adventures will provide escort by paddleboard and kayak to scatter plumeria blos soms. A lei will then be dropped over the hull as it continues to move toward the Grand Naniloa Pier. Paddlers will follow Hōkūleʻa to the pier where a special onboard tour will be supported by Hilo resident and Hōkūleʻa crew member Kalani Kahalioumi.

From Saturday, April 28 through Thursday, May 10, Hōkūleʻa will be moored at Kawaihae Harbor.

About Hōkūleʻa

Launched from the sacred shores of Kualoa in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, on March 8, 1975, Hōkūleʻa helped begin a generation of renewal for Hawaiʻi’s people. Along with the revitalization of Polynesian voyaging and navigation traditions, Hōkūleʻa introduced a newfound respect and appreciation for Hawaiian culture and language in the state of Hawaiʻi and beyond.

A symbol of cultural revival, the history of Hōkūleʻa is also being shared on this journey to inspire other indigenous cultures. This replica of an ancient Polynesian voyaging canoe was built 43 years ago and revitalized voyaging and navigation traditions throughout the Pacific. The canoe’s twin hulls allow her to handle large ocean swells and recover easily in the troughs of waves, and her triangular canvas sails can harness winds up to 20 knots. 

Through the revival of the traditional art and science of wayfinding-navigating the sea guided by nature using the ocean swells, stars, and wind, Hōkūleʻa sparked a Hawaiian cultural renaissance and has reawakened the world’s sense of pride and strength as voyagers charting a course for our Island Earth.