10th Annual Mary Kawena Pukui Performing Arts Festival
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The annual Mary Kawena Pukui Performing Arts Festival honors the arts of native cultures through performances and cultural activities. This year’s theme, “Celebrate — Song, Dance, and Story,” offers a journey down life’s paths through traditional and innovative stories, songs, and dances.
This event is free for Bishop Museum members. A $5 special rate will apply for kama‘āina and military (proper identification required); children 3 and under are free. Regular admission rates apply for all other visitors.
Highlights will include a dynamic ECHO group performance featuring performers from Alaska, Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Hawai‘i, and directed by Peter Rockford Espiritu of Tau Dance Theatre; dramatic storytelling, including “Stories of Moloka‘i” with Makia Malo, “Mo‘olelo Hulu” with Paulette Kahalepuna, and three new animal-themed presentations from Bishop Museum’s cultural educators; Hawaiian practitioners, including Hui Ku Maoli Ola (Hawaiian plants), Nā Lei Hawai‘i (lei making), and Pā Ku‘i Kalo (poi pounding); aerobatic performances by Samadhi Hawai‘i; and games and activities for the whole family!
Bishop Museum's annual Performing Arts Festival is named in honor of Mary Kawena Pukui, a revered Hawaiian scholar and linguist who valued the art of storytelling and the importance of oral history. Pukui published the first Native Hawaiian language dictionary and worked tirelessly to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian traditions of hula and storytelling.
This event is sponsored by grants from the Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations (ECHO). The purpose of ECHO programming is to amplify educational benefits, foster greater appreciation of local and national history, and assist communities in maximizing the social benefits of new technologies.
Click here to download a PDF version of the event flyer.
Schedule of Events
- 10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Opening Ceremony (Ke Kula o S. M. Kamakau Public Charter School)
- 11:00 - 11:45 a.m. Samadhi Hawai‘i - Flanders Lawn
- 12 - 1:00 p.m. “Celebrate! Song, Dance, and Story” - Mainstage (An ECHO Collaborative Performance)
- 1:00 - 1:45 p.m. Meet & Greet Cast - Mainstage
- 1:00 – 1:45 p.m. Ola Nā Mo‘olelo- Dramatic Story Telling – Atrium (Puapualenalena – Kealoha Kelekolio; Manō, the shark – Moses Goods; Mo‘o Mo‘olelo – Marcus Quiniones)
- 2:00 - 2:45 p.m. Hula Ki‘i – Mainstage - Hakipu‘u Public Charter School
- 2:00 - 2:45 p.m. Stories of Moloka‘i - Atrium - Makia Malo
- 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. Mo‘olelo Hulu - Atrium - Paulette Kahalepuna
- 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. Ku‘u Lei Pāpale – Parade of Hats - Main stage
- 3:30 - 4:00 p.m. Samadhi Hawai‘i - Flanders Lawn
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