Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea will host its fifth annual Festivals of Aloha from Friday, October 23 through Sunday, October 25, bringing free cultural programming, a 50th-anniversary performance by the Mākaha Sons, and a guest appearance from one of the two women who sailed aboard Hōkūleʻa's first voyage to Tahiti. The three-day celebration opens with a 9:30 am ceremony on Friday and runs through complimentary events open to both resort guests and the wider community.
According to the Four Seasons Press Room, this year's schedule was curated by Aunty Mopsie Tuivaioge, the resort's director of Hawaiian programs, who described the festival as a “special opportunity to bring our community together and celebrate the traditions that make Hawaiʻi so unique” and said, “we hope to inspire a deeper appreciation for our traditions and ensure they continue to thrive for generations to come.” Friday's full day of programming includes the Carmen Hulu Lindsey Leo Haʻihaʻi Falsetto Contest, which showcases the distinctive vocal traditions of Hawaiian music. Per the Festivals of Aloha event listing, the contest was established as Hawaiʻi's first competition dedicated exclusively to female falsetto singers, expanding a tradition that had historically centered on male vocalists.
Mākaha Sons Headline Saturday's Hula Showcase
Saturday's Hula Is the Heartbeat program features the Mākaha Sons, who are celebrating 50 years of musical legacy this year, the resort's announcement notes. The group, per their entry on Wikipedia, formed on Oʻahu in 1976 as the Mākaha Sons of Niʻihau, with founding members Jerome Koko, Louis “Moon” Kauakahi, Sam Gray, and brothers Skippy and Israel Kamakawiwoʻole starting out as an opening act at a local nightclub before becoming one of Hawaiʻi's most influential traditional acoustic groups. The late Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole, whose solo career launched from the band, remains one of the most recognized names to emerge from that lineup. The resort's statement adds that the Mākaha Sons have played an instrumental role in preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian music, with Tuivaioge saying the resort is honored to welcome a group whose music has helped preserve and share Hawaiian heritage.
Saturday's showcase also features four Maui hula hālau and a special guest appearance by Miss Aloha Hula 2026. That title belongs to Maui resident Faith Kealohapauʻole Paredes of the Wailuku-based Hālau Kekuaokalāʻauʻalaʻiliahi, who won the honor at the 63rd Annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo this past April, as reported by Maui Now.
A Hōkūleʻa Voyager Recounts the 1976 Journey
Also on Saturday, Penny Martin will speak at a presentation commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hōkūleʻa's first voyage to Tahiti and back. Martin was one of only two women aboard the canoe during that landmark 1976 crossing. The double-hulled voyaging canoe traveled roughly 2,400 nautical miles from West Maui's Honolua Bay to Papeʻete between May 1 and June 4, 1976, relying on traditional non-instrument star navigation under Micronesian master navigator Mau Piailug, an achievement widely credited with sparking the modern Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance, Hoodline previously reported in August.
Sunday closes the festival with a kumu hula panel exploring the preservation of Hawaiian hula lineages, followed by Sounds of the Sea, a performance by contemporary Hawaiian music group Kuikawā, who are celebrating their third album release in the Mele and Moʻolelo series. Throughout the weekend, the Live Aloha Market will host 22 local vendors, and a shoppable pop-up from Hawaiian lifestyle brand MANAOLA will be on site. The MANAOLA brand, founded by Native Hawaiian designer Manaola Yap, creates contemporary fashion pieces drawing on traditional ʻohe kāpala, or bamboo stamp, motifs and ancestral Hawaiian patterns, according to a 2018 profile in Hawaii Island MidWeek.
Guided Tours Honor Queen Liliʻuokalani's Legacy
The festival also includes guided tours of the Queen's Garden: Uluahaimalama, which honors Hawaiʻi's last reigning monarch. The original Uluhaʻimalama Nursery was established by Queen Liliʻuokalani in Pauoa Valley on October 11, 1894, as a symbol of hope following the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. During her 1895 imprisonment at ʻIolani Palace, loyalist supporters reportedly delivered flowers from the garden wrapped in newspapers to secretly pass political news to her, according to Kamehameha Schools.
The event marks Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea's fifth year hosting Festivals of Aloha, which organizers describe as Maui Nui's premier Hawaiian cultural showcase. The resort also offers complimentary year-round cultural offerings, including lei making, outrigger canoe excursions, and hula lessons, separate from the festival weekend. Crissa Hiranaga, senior director of public relations and communications at Four Seasons Resort Maui, is listed as a resort contact for the event.
Free Shuttle Parking and Island-Wide Festivities
For visitors, Wailea Event Parking offers complimentary off-site parking and round-trip shuttle service from a lot located across from Monkeypod off Wailea Ike Drive. The lot operates Friday from 9 am to 10 pm, Saturday from 9:30 am to midnight, and Sunday in two blocks, from 8 am to 3 pm and again from 4 pm to 10 pm.
The Wailea weekend is one piece of a much larger island-wide calendar. Maui Nui's 2026 Festivals of Aloha series carries the theme Ea Mai Ke Kai Mai — Rise Up from the Sea, with events spanning Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and East Maui's Hāna community through September and October, according to Maui Family Magazine. The broader celebration traces back to 1946, when former Jaycees members established Aloha Week to preserve Hawaiian music, dance, and cultural traditions after World War II, before it expanded into the multi-island Aloha Festivals in 1991, per Hawaii.com.
That same October weekend, Upcountry Maui's Kaonoulu Ranch marks its 110th anniversary with the three-day Oskie Rice Memorial Rodeo in Makawao, explicitly timed to coincide with Festivals of Aloha, as Hoodline covered in August. Tying several of these threads together is Daryl Fujiwara, the overall Festivals of Aloha coordinator, who also directed the revival of the 98th and 99th Maui County Fairs in Wailuku in 2025 and this October under contract with the County of Maui, a role Hoodline detailed in its coverage of the fair's return.
