Entertainment

The Merrie Monarch Royal Parade will be in Downtown Hilo on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with than 100 horses gussied up to carry women dressed in long, colorful skirts (pāʻu) riding sidesaddle or as part of a private mount group.

Today, the competition begins at the 60th Merrie Monarch Festival, with 12 candidates vying for Miss Aloha Hula.

Generations of kāne and wāhine dancers taught by the late Kumu Hula Johnny Lum Ho will take the stage tonight to honor him at Hō‘ike Night, which kicks off the 60th Merrie Monarch Festival.

Whatʻs happening on April 12 at the Merrie Monarch Festival? Check out our official and unofficial list of events.

The Second Annual Hawai’i Mushroom Festival is just around the corner, offering a weekend full of agricultural education and community-building activities.

Although the initial motivation for the Merrie Monarch Festival was to boost the economy of Hawaiʻi island through tourism, this event has come to serve a far greater purpose, which is perpetuating Hawaiian culture.

The action isn’t just at the Edith Kanaka‘ole Multi-Purpose Stadium and Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium during Merrie Monarch Week on the Big Island. There are several other venues throughout Hilo and East Hawai‘i that will feature hula, music, arts and crafts, Hawaiian cultural events and other entertainment.

Get ready, world. The Merrie Monarch Festival returns next week with full regalia for the first time since 2019, and there’s just two days left until the celebration of hula and everything Hawaiian gets underway.

Whether searching for Easter eggs is your jam or maybe you would rather have someone else do the holiday cooking, there’s something for everyone. So don those new Easter clothes and hop on over to one or more of these “egg-citing” events.

Multiple media outlets, entertainment blogs and social media accounts report that Big Island resident Maia Keahola will play Lilo in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s 2002 animated film “Lilo & Stitch.”

The West Hawaiʻi County Band is performing its concerts at a new location, Honu’s On The Beach at the King Kamehameha Hotel.

The Kona Steel Guitar Festival is a new event developed to coincide with the relocation of Keola Beamer’s Aloha Music Camp from Kapa‘a on Kaua‘i to Keauhou.

The Kamuela Philharmonic Orchestra will feature the highly celebrated violinist Sirena Huang for her first performance in Hawai‘i, playing Dvorák’s Violin Concerto.

The Hilo Education Arts Repertory Theatre is presenting “The Prom,” the outrageous and heart-warming musical comedy that was the recipient of seven Tony Award nominations.

The 22nd annual Kauikeaouli Festival, which commemorates the monarch’s birthday, is planned for March 17-18 at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay in West Hawaiʻi on the Big Island, complete with a free ʻaha mele (concert) and cultural activities.

Ilima Shim, a mother of two who lives in Kapolei, O‘ahu, and grew up in Hōnaunau on the Big Island’s west side, finished in the top six of season four of the CBS reality TV competition show “Tough As Nails.”

Grammy award-winning Hawaiian icon John Cruz is releasing songs from the Kauaʻi-based musical “Hawaiian Heart,” with Taiana Tully and Bronson Varde.

Since its first edition in 2010, Ma‘ema‘e has evolved from a resource for media to a living toolkit for anyone who has a role in representing Hawai‘i.

Tickets for the non-competitive hula exhibition scheduled for Wednesday night, April 12, will be available in person from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until they are sold out, at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium box office in Hilo.

The legendary vocal quartet is celebrating its 50th anniversary and making its final world tour.