Hilo's ʻImiloa Center opens its doors Sunday for the return of the ʻIkuwā Festival, a free, day-long celebration running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that ties together Hawaiian knowledge, science and community life. The event lands at ʻImiloa Center, 600 ʻImiloa Place, on the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus, and doubles as part of the center's ongoing 20th anniversary celebration.
According to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, this year's festival is held in partnership with ʻOhana Waʻa and numerous community organizations, and it is framed as a free public celebration honoring the deep interconnectedness of Hawaiʻi's land, sea, sky and communities. The university describes it as a chance for attendees to come together for a day of cultural celebration, hands-on learning, environmental awareness and community connection.
This year's theme, “A Manu o Uka, A Manu o Kai,” translates to “The bird of the upland, the bird of the sea,” a line drawn from the chant Ia Waʻa Nui, per the same university announcement. The phrase sets the tone for programming that links the mountains and the ocean as parts of a single living system, a thread that has run through the festival since it began in 2021, as Big Island Now reports.
A Festival Built Around Connection
ʻImiloa executive director Kaʻiu Kimura said in a news release that ʻIkuwā offers an opportunity to recognize and strengthen relationships with ʻāina, kai, waʻa, the skies and one another. Kimura also framed the day's underlying message in ecological terms, saying the forest provides trees for waʻa, the waʻa carries people across the ocean, and the ocean sustains communities and their way of life.
Kimura's comments underscore the festival's central idea: that caring for one part of the system means caring for all of it, as she put it in the same release. That philosophy shapes the programming, which this year includes voyaging and navigation learning sessions with ʻOhana Waʻa members and experienced voyagers, giving attendees direct exposure to traditional wayfinding knowledge.
Hands-On Learning and Environmental Stewardship
The 2026 lineup also features cultural demonstrations and hands-on activities led by cultural practitioners, along with place-based interactive educational activities exploring the cultural and scientific knowledge rooted in Hawaiʻi's landscapes. Organizers describe make-and-take activities inspired by Hawaiian cultural practices and place-based science, plus interactive exhibits inside ʻImiloa itself paired with broader community engagement activities.
Environmental stewardship activities round out the educational offerings, with organizations focused on protecting natural resources and endemic species and restoring ecosystems taking part, according to the festival's organizers. Live performances and presentations celebrating Hawaiʻi Island communities are also planned, adding a stage element to the day's hands-on workshops.
Food, Crafts and Planetarium Shows
Beyond the cultural programming, the festival promises planetarium programs, waʻa, music, hula, food vendors, crafts, a local marketplace and makahiki games, per the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo's announcement. The Maunakea Observatories describe it as a free, family-friendly event, with families and keiki invited to take part in crafts and educational activities throughout the grounds. The observatories' listing also notes food vendors and a community marketplace featuring local artisans and organizations as part of the day.
The festival carries forward programming themes seen in past years. The 2025 ʻIkuwā Festival, held on September 28 of that year at the ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, included hands-on workshops, cultural games, traditional navigation lessons and a traveling exhibit about fishponds, according to the University of Hawaiʻi system. That same report described ʻIkuwā as marking the change from summer to winter in the Hawaiian calendar, a season known for storms, abundance and renewal, and said the event encourages guests to see their role in caring for the ecosystems that feed and sustain Hawaiʻi.
A Festival With a Growing History
ʻImiloa's education manager, Anya Tagawa, has been part of the ʻIkuwā Festival since it began in 2021, according to a University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo chancellor's story on the 2024 event. That third annual festival, held October 20, 2024, carried the theme “Hoʻōla Lāhui Manu: Who is Your Flock?” and emphasized honoring and protecting Hawaiʻi's native bird species, as reported by Big Island Now. It featured performances from Hilo's Hālau Unulau and other dancers, Makahiki games, a Keiki Oli Challenge, planetarium programs, community art, crafts and vendors.
Attendance estimates for that 2024 festival differ depending on the source: Big Island Now reported that more than 1,000 people turned out, while ʻImiloa event and program facilitator Kayla Lindsey-Asing told the university's chancellor's office that 3,000 people were welcomed to the event. No attendance figures have been released for Sunday's 2026 gathering.
Those interested in attending can find more information at imiloahawaii.org or by reaching organizers at [email protected], both listed as official contact points for the ʻIkuwā Festival.
