Each spring, the Merrie Monarch Festival returns to Hilo, where the celebration has become inseparable from the identity of the town itself. Often described as the “Olympics of hula,” Merrie Monarch is synonymous with Hilo, just as Hilo is synonymous with the Merrie Monarch Festival.
For decades, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has stood alongside the community in supporting the festival and uplifting the cultural traditions that Merrie Monarch helps to perpetuate. As the home campus of poʻe hula, UH Hilo continues to play an important role in honoring and engaging with the festival each year.
The roots of this relationship stretch back to the earliest days of Merrie Monarch. The festival began in 1964 following the devastating 1960 tsunami that reshaped Hilo. Community leaders envisioned a celebration that would restore pride in the town, revitalize the local economy, and bring people together. What began as a lively community festival eventually evolved into the internationally respected hula competition known around the world today.
When the festival nearly dissolved in the late 1960s, Aunty Dottie Thompson stepped forward with a powerful vision inspired by the cultural renaissance of King David Kalākaua.
With guidance from respected hula masters such as ʻIolani Luahine and Edith Kanakaʻole, the festival shifted toward a deeper commitment to traditional hula. The first hula competition debuted in 1971 with nine hālau and the first Miss Hula, now known as Miss Aloha Hula.
Last November, members of the Hilo community had the opportunity to hear more about the festival’s history and evolution during UH Hilo’s Kuleana & Community Talk Story series, a weekly campus gathering that invites community stewards to share the kuleana they carry in their professional and personal lives.
Festival President Luana Kawelu and Festival Vice President Kathy Kawelu (Associate Professor of Anthropology at UH Hilo) reflected on their family’s longstanding stewardship of the Merrie Monarch Festival and the deep connection between the festival and the Hilo community that sustains it.
UH Hilo’s connection to Merrie Monarch continues through educational programs, student involvement, and community partnerships. This spring semester, UH Hilo students are exploring the legacy of King Kalākaua through a special topics course examining the monarch whose cultural vision helped inspire the festival itself.
During Merrie Monarch week, the university will host presentations and cultural gatherings that invite students and the broader community to deepen their understanding of hula, mele, and Hawaiian cultural revitalization.
Many of these events will take place at the university’s ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, including a panel titled “Cultural Renaissance in Motion: Merrie Monarch’s Enduring Influence on ʻŌlelo, Mele, and Hula.” UH Hilo professors Dr. Kalena Silva, Dr. Larry Kimura, and Dr. Kekoa Harman will reflect on the festival’s role in strengthening key pillars of Hawaiian cultural resurgence.
Across campus, Merrie Monarch week is also marked by cultural performances and student engagement. Visiting hālau share special presentations, international students offer cultural performances celebrating their own traditions, and UH Hilo student-athletes volunteer during the festival by helping to operate concession stands that serve thousands of attendees. These campus events, branded Kahikuonālani in honor of King David Laʻamea Kalākaua, exhibit UH Hilo’s ongoing commitment to connecting learning, community, and aloha.
In Hilo, the Merrie Monarch Festival is not simply an event. It is a reminder that culture lives through the people who carry it forward.
