Hōʻike Night Tickets Sell Out Within Hours

Merrie Monarch Festival’s Hōʻike Night is sold out.

Tickets for the April 20 event went on sale this morning and were gone within hours.

This will be the first Hōʻike Night to take place since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. All Merrie Monarch festivities were canceled in 2020. The three-day hula competition returned in 2021 with no live audience or musicians.

Hōʻike Night is typically free to the public. However, event officials said they decided to charge $5 for tickets this year in consideration of long lines and health concerns related to the pandemic.

Proof of vaccination and ID is required to enter the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multipurpose Stadium for the event. Negative test results won’t be accepted. Masks will be required except while eating and drinking.

Attendees will be seated in groups of two with a three-foot buffer between groups.

The hula competition will commence on the following days after Hōʻike. While COVID restrictions and mask mandates are slated to be lifted, only participating hālau will receive a set amount of tickets to watch the event live. Those tickets, along with a smaller number of free tickets for longstanding Merrie Monarch supporters and sponsors, will be the only tickets available.

Tickets won’t be available to the general public as the seating capacity will have been reached.