Since 1964, the Merrie Monarch Festival has captivated audiences with the vibrant traditions of Hawaii.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
Merrie Monarch is an annual festival in Hilo, Hawaii.
It celebrates Hawaiian traditions with craft fairs, parades, and hula competitions.
This article is part of "Community in Focus," a series highlighting Asian and Pacific Islander events.
As the sun set over the misty town of Hilo, Hawaii, on April 6, about 4,000 people stood up from their seats in the Edith Kanakaʻole stadium and joined hands.
They swayed in unison, their voices reverberating off the bleachers and walls to the tune of "Hawaii Aloha," a song locals often sing to mark the end of a cultural celebration. This time, they were saying goodbye to Merrie Monarch, an annual weeklong festival for honoring native Hawaiian traditions such as hula and craft making.
When I was growing up in Hilo, attending Merrie Monarch was the highlight of my year. My grandmother would take me to hotels around Hilo, where my uncles would perform Hawaiian music andchildren would dance the hula, big smiles plastered on their faces. The hotels buzzed with excitement as artisans showcased their crafts, and the scent of traditional Hawaiian delicacies filled the air. At the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade, I was enchanted as horseback riders floated by wearing colorful leis and long pāʻū skirts.
The festival, which started on March 31 this year, is marked by a mass migration of Hawaiians to Hilo on the state's Big Island, also called Hawaii.
These Hawaiians — largely hula dancers who have dedicated their lives to mastering the ancestral dance — overtake the small town of Hilo, bringing with them custom-made hula garments, intricate handmade goods, delectable eats, and goosebump-inducing song and dance.
"It truly is the finest time in Hawaii," Dillon Ancheta, a Hawaiian-born journalist who has covered Merrie Monarch celebrations for the past five years, told Business Insider. "It feels like the entire state gets excited for Merrie Monarch, and the absolute best of our culture is on display."
Take a look inside this year's Merrie Monarch Festival.
For the past 60 years, Hawaiians and tourists have traveled to Hilo for the Merrie Monarch Festival. Performers adorn themselves in flowers colored to represent their home islands.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
The festival was conceived in 1963 by Helene Hale, the then-chair of Hawaii County, as a way to bring economic opportunity to the area.
A year later, Hale's committee of local and native Hawaiians put on the first Merrie Monarch, which is named in honor of King David Laʻamea Kalākaua.
Known as the "Merrie Monarch" for his flamboyant and joyous nature, Kalākaua was a patron of the arts, including music and dance, and upheld Hawaiian culture as the last king of Hawaii.
The festival has always aimed to captivate audiences with Hawaii's vibrant traditions. The Merrie Monarch Festival has always featured music and arts and crafts vendors.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
The Merrie Monarch Festival initially featured music, contests, and arts and crafts. However, by the late 1960s, interest in the festival declined among tourists, who were the first audience for the event.
In 1971, a hula competition was added, transforming Merrie Monarch into the massive celebration it is today. Adding a hula competition to the festival attracted hula dancers from around the world to come to perform.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
With the addition of the hula competition, Merrie Monarch gained interest from both local and international hula participants and spectators.
"The first time I witnessed the graceful movements of hula at the Merrie Monarch Festival, I was spellbound. It was as if the spirit of Hawaii itself had taken form before my eyes," said Aunty Irene Midel, a beloved Hilo resident who has watched the Merrie Monarch hula competition nearly every year since its inception.
In the days leading up to Merrie Monarch, the quiet town of Hilo comes to life. Vendors park their craft-filled trucks outside Hilo's civic center in preparation for an influx of tourists and locals.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
Artisans from all over the Hawaiian Islands travel to Hilo for the festival to show off and sell their wares.
It's one of the most anticipated events of the year for the residents of Hilo, Kuʻehu Mauga, a radio host at Hilo's local station KWXX-FM, said.
"Our normally sleepy town comes alive, and the energy and excitement can be felt in our families, local businesses, and even in everyday conversation," Mauga told BI. "The festival reminds me of a family reunion that everyone looks forward to attending year after year."
Talented weavers, seamstresses, and artists sell their handmade creations to the masses. Racks of handmade Hawaiian garments where festival attendees can shop.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
There are at least 10 craft fairs throughout the weeklong celebration, stationed in various places in Hilo.
Vendors sell traditional Polynesian items such as fresh-flower leis, hula instruments, Hawaiian food, Tahitian pearls, and Niʻihau shell leis.
There's a story behind each craft, accessory, and art piece on display. Hair picks made out of koa wood and bone were available at one of the festival's craft fairs.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
This year, Ancheta, the journalist, was browsing one of the festival's craft enclaves when he met a Hawaiian woman selling hats she wove from lauhala plants, which are native to the area.
When Ancheta pointed out a hat he loved, the weaver said she made it from plants that grew on her parents' property. The weaver then gifted Ancheta the intricate wide-brimmed hat, which left him speechless, considering the monetary value and invaluable story behind the weaver's work.
"She said, 'When I weave the plants together, it's like I'm joining my mother and father together,'" Ancheta told BI. "It was just an act of genuine love and aloha."
Artisans welcome the influx of visitors and aim to educate them about the traditions behind their wares. One artisan sold gourds they fashioned into water jugs, bowls, and percussion instruments.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
Many of the designers are locals, but plenty of Hawaiians who have left to pursue fashion careers in New York City and beyond return to their childhood homes for Merrie Monarch.
But with so many people in Hilo at once, lodging can be difficult to secure. Festivalgoers browse a selection of goods from Hawaiian arts and crafts vendors.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
The influx of festival participants, vendors, and visitors strains local resources, exacerbating accommodation shortages, outdated infrastructure, and soaring prices.
These challenges have led the community to question whether Merrie Monarch should remain in Hilo, despite the festival's enduring importance to the town.
The Merrie Monarch Festival's president, Luana Kawelu, worries that accommodations are becoming too expensive for hula teachers and students traveling to Hilo from the outer islands and abroad. Still, she believes the event should stay put.
"The Merrie Monarch started here and belongs here, in Hilo," Kawelu told BI.
At the same time, hotel shortages can bolster the festival's focus on togetherness. Dancers prepare backstage at the Merrie Monarch Festival.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
When hula schools arrive with their students and teachers, they often bunk in local gymnasiums or at Hilo locals' homes to avoid expensive hotels.
And since the Big Island has laws safeguarding against short-term vacation rentals, Airbnb isn't a feasible option for most. That's not necessarily a bad thing, Ancheta said.
"It's part of the beauty of it happening in the quaint little town of Hilo," he said. "You have to ask friends and family, 'Who's got an extra house? Where can I stay?'"
Hula performances are a way to show reverence for Hawaiian ancestors. Women dance the hula.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
Preparing for the Merrie Monarch Festival takes years for dancers, and the teachers, or kumu, who guide them spend decades on their craft.
For these dedicated hula troupes, stepping onto the stage at the Edith Kanakaʻole stadium is a moment filled with anticipation, reverence, and exhilaration. I know the feeling myself.
When I was 4, my grandmother explained the importance of the tradition and took me to practices twice weekly, even when I didn't want to go.
Years later, I stepped onto the stage with my fellow dancers as the crowd cheered. It was a profound culmination of rigorous practice and unwavering commitment, as well as a poignant reminder of my responsibility to honor my culture and ancestors.
In addition to hula performances, there's a night dedicated to Pacific Islander dance traditions. A dance troupe performs during the Merrie Monarch Festival.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
On the fourth night of the Merrie Monarch Festival, dancers from Japan, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islander backgrounds got onstage inside Hilo's stadium to showcase their traditional movements.
At the Merrie Monarch Parade, community members are honored for upholding tradition. The Merrie Monarch court on its parade float.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
"The Merrie Monarch Festival serves as a consistent yet rare opportunity to perpetuate our Hawaiian culture on a global scale," Mauga said. "Merrie Monarch is the heart of Hilo."
Parade participants don colors that symbolize their home islands. An escort rider at the festival's parade.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
This escort rider, for example, wore pink to represent the island of Maui.
In its 64-year history, Merrie Monarch has proved a joyous embodiment of Hawaii's vibrant culture. An escort rider represents the island of Kaho'olawe during the Merrie Monarch Parade.
Keatan Kamakaiwi for BI
Additional reporting by Julia Naftulin.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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By: [email protected] (Syndi Texeira) Title: A look inside Hawaii's Merrie Monarch Festival, an energetic celebration of native art, dance, and music Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/merrie-monarch-festival-hawaii-hula-aapi-tradition-2024-5 Published Date: Wed, 15 May 2024 15:07:32 +0000
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