It’s September in the islands of aloha — here’s what not to miss.
While you could argue every week is Aloha Week in Hawaii, there’s a 79-year tradition of designating a week in September by that name as a time for celebrating Hawaiian culture with special exuberance. Now called Aloha Festivals, this year’s main events on Oahu begin the evening of Sept. 20, when the Waikiki Hoolaulea turns Waikiki’s Kalakaua Avenue into Hawaii’s biggest block party, including food, music, hula and other entertainment that attracts some 70,000 residents and visitors. The same avenue hosts the massive Floral Parade the morning of Sept. 27, a 3-hour spectacle of floats and horseback riders adorned with colorful blossoms. Other islands have their own ways of enlivening the typically slower travel season of September, too.
Feature photo: Kalakaua Avenue during Aloha Festival Hoolaulea, Courtesy of Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) / Tor Johnson
Oahu
Besides the Waikiki Hoolaulea and Floral Parade, this year’s Aloha Festivals also includes the Royal Court Investiture and Opening Ceremony Sept. 6 in Waikiki. The people chosen to portray Hawaii’s alii (chiefs), considered a special honor, will don royal regalia in a stately ceremony in the Royal Hawaiian hotel’s Helumoa Gardens, followed by hula and music in the nearby Royal Grove at the Royal Hawaiian Center.
Here are highlights of other events around Oahu this month:
If you can’t make the Sept. 20 Waikiki Hoolaulea, Waikiki Street Jam on Sept. 6 is a great substitute. It also turns Kalakaua Avenue into a pedestrian zone lined with dozens of booths of local vendors selling art, clothing, accessories, food and drink, and more. A portion of the proceeds benefit Make-a-Wish Hawaii.
Music, dance and storytelling from several generations of Native Hawaiian and local drag artists will celebrate Hawaii’s LGBTQ heritage and concept of mahu identity at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Ballroom Sept. 6. The lively show will also honor Brandy Lee, Hawaii’s pioneering drag performer who founded and starred in the “Boys Will Be Girls Revue” at Honolulu’s Glade Nightclub in 1963.
Much of downtown Kailua’s Hahani Street closes for the free Kailua Fall Festival Sept. 27, featuring live music and other entertainment, vendors, food and drink, and a “party bus” to four bars in the area—provided you’ve bought your wristband and stein in advance. There’s also a trolley from Kainalu Elementary School to get you into the heart of the action without having to worry about finding parking downtown.
Maui
Maui County’s Festivals of Aloha take place throughout September and October, including a Hoolaulea (celebration) on Lanai with hand-on activities, local food and crafts, and live entertainment in Dole Park on Sept. 27.
Here are highlights of other events around Maui in September:
Maui’s only adult hula competition, Ku Mai Ka Hula takes place Sept. 12-13 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. The event for men and women dancers features solo performances on Friday, Sept. 12, and group competition on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The singers will definitely be able to hit the high notes in the 23rd annual Richard Ho‘opi‘i Leo Ki‘eki‘e Falsetto Contest, Sept. 20 at the Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua. The amateur competition helps preserve the distinctive falsetto style of traditional Hawaiian music, which its late namesake helped popularize.
Groove to ’80s music and apex predators, a/k/a sharks, during Maui Ocean Center’s adults-only Sharks After Dark Night Sept. 20. The evening includes dancing and music outside under the stars, diver presentations inside the aquarium’s 750,000-gallon Open Ocean exhibit, screenings of the 3D film “Humpbacks of Hawaii” in the Sphere Theater, and retro food and drink for sale in the Reef Cafe.
Hawaii Island
Paniolo (cowboy) culture is the focus of the 2025 edition of Aloha Festivals Island of Hawaii Sept. 15-20, which includes a line dance, beef cookoff and other events in Waimea leading up to a big parade on Sept. 20. Featuring riders in traditional pau skirts on lei-wearing horses, the parade will be immediately followed by a free festival in Kalani Schutte Waimea District Park with Hawaiian entertainment, food trucks, drinks, arts and crafts, arts, games and equestrian performances.
Here are highlights of other events around Hawaii Island in September:
Before enjoying two nights of hula by senior men and women (kupuna) in the 39th annual Kupuna Hula Festival Sept. 10-11, browse the daytime craft fair at Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa. The craft fair, which has free admission and parking, showcases Hawaiian apparel, handcrafted jewelry, original artwork, and other locally made wares.
Sign up to learn about “Hawaii’s jewels of the forest,” the endangered snails known as kahuli, and the attempts to prevent their extinction, on Sept. 19 at the Waikoloa Dry Forest Preserve. Part o the Waikoloa Biocultural Talk Series, the free evening event includes pupus (appetizers) and refreshments, and eye-catching views of sunset over the ocean.
Liliuokalani Gardens traditionally onors its royal namesake with a party, He Halia Aloha No Liliuokalani, on the first Saturday after the late queen’s Sept. 2 birthday, which falls on Sept. 6 this year. The free family-friendly festival includes children’s and Hawaiian games, cultural demonstrations, group hula and other live entertainment, craft booths and food trucks, with shuttle service from overflow parking at the Civic Center.
Kauai
There’s a whole week of events in the Kauai Mokihana Festival, named after the island’s fragrant plant that grows nowhere else, but the headliners are the three-day craft festival Sept. 25-27 and a night and day of hula competition Sept. 26-27, both at Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue.
Here are highlights of other events around Kauai in September:
Watch the new live-action “Lilo & Stitch” on the island that inspired its original animation as part of the Shops at Kukuiula’s monthly Ohana Movie Night Sept. 19. The outdoor screening in the shopping center’s Palm Court begins at sunset and includes complimentary refreshments.
A showcase of Native Hawaiian traditional healing and cultural practices, Na Mamo Kaiaulu includes Native Hawaiian vendors, games and activities, arts and crafts, and exhibits and craft sales Sept. 6 at Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue. Register in advance for workshops on lomilomi (massage), laau lapaau (herbal medicine) and hooponopono (reconciliation.)
The 12th annual Ohana FitFest, which benefits North Shore schools and kids’ athletic programs, is a mashup of a 5K fun run/walk with a whimsical obstacle course. Held Sept. 27 in Princeville, the all-ages event sends out participants in staggered starts on a course that includes a slip-n-slide, pallet climb, spider web and other playful hurdles.
