World Hula Week (Merrie Monarch festival) – April 20, 2025

History of World Hula Week (Merrie Monarch festival)

The origin of the Merrie Monarch Festival can be traced back to 1963 when Hawai’i Island was experiencing economic struggles as a result of the devastation caused by a recent tsunami, as well as the decline of the sugar plantations along the Hamakua Coast. Helene Hale, the County of Hawai’i Chairwoman, decided to give the island an economic boost through tourism. She sent her administrative assistant and promoter of activities to Maui to explore the island’s Lahaina Whaling Spree and see what lessons could be learned. The duo returned inspired.

The following year, the Festival was organized, consisting of events such as a relay race, a barbershop quartet, a King Kalākaua beard lookalike contest, a recreation of King Kalākaua’s coronation, and a Holoku Ball. Between 1968 and 1970, support and interest for the festival declined but was eventually revived by the Executive Director of the Festival, Dottie Thompson, who introduced a Miss Hula competition in 1971. In 1976, the competition expanded to include men, which increased interest in the Festival.

This period of reawakening interest in the Festival also coincided with the Hawaiian Renaissance, a period when cultural pride began to manifest through the practice of Hawaiian culture, language, arts, crafts, music, and voyaging. Steadily, the Festival grew in leaps and bounds, so much so that it expanded to a full week. Furthermore, the crowd was so large that it outgrew its location. The solution came in 1981 with the Festival getting televised for the first time so that elders who couldn’t attend physically would still be able to enjoy the hula. In 2013, the Festival celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Though the original motivation of the festival’s organizers was economic gain, it has come to mean so much more and is now a perpetuation of Hawaiian culture.