| 14th Annual Honolulu Festival （2008） |
The 14th Annual Honolulu Festival supported by the local media coverage was able to draw thousands of spectators to its 3-day cultural extravaganza from March 14th through March 16th. The Foundation would like to thank the local media, radio, television and newspapers, for coming out to cover the events.
One of the questions often asked by the local media is, “What is the purpose of this festival and why is it important that we do it each year?” Our theme is Pacific Harmony and we believe that it is important to promote cultural understanding and ethnic harmony between the people of Hawaii and its neighboring Pacific Rim countries. We think that it is important to have the young people of Hawaii experience cultural diversity so that they will have an open mind and hopefully explore cultures outside of Hawaii as they grow up. It is also important that we get an opportunity to search and discover our roots whether it is Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, Tahiti or any other country. What started out as a festival for the people of Hawaii and Japan has expanded into a multi-cultural event including traditional and modern performances from Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Korea. The wonderful thing about this event is that all our performers converge into Honolulu and the spectators get to see and feel it all in one weekend. That would be a difficult thing to do even if you were to travel to Japan with the sole purpose of experiencing such festivals.
The other unique thing about the Honolulu Festival is the variety. On one hand we have the thoroughly modern anime voice actress from Japan Halko Momoi doing her thing on stage with her loyal fans two-stepping in front of the stage and in the aisles. Then there is the traditional performance of Tonosama Ren, the Awaodori group from Tokushima. Then we have Manoa DNA representing contemporary Hawaiian music at its best. Next you see the Beijing Olympic Mascots posing for pictures with the keiki of Hawaii. Next might be the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. And after that comes the aboriginal group from Australia, Descendance. It’s such a mixture of cultures, styles and themes. The Festival is entertaining but it’s also hands on. The new Ennichi Corner specifically created for the small children of Hawaii gave the little ones an opportunity to play Japanese games that would be showcased in a typical Saint’s Day festival in Japan and much more.
Local media coverage included:
- KHON 2’s Morning Show featuring the junior high and high school students of the taiko group from Fukuoka, Zendoji Yamabiko Taiko, and the popular group from Australia, the Descendance, on the morning of March 14th. There was also a demonstration on how to spin a top and play kendama (cup and ball game ), part of the Ennichi Corner.
- KHON 2 also came by to shoot the Educational Tours being conducted for the Hawaii students.
- The Descendance were on KGMB 9 Sunrise as well as on the KSSK Price and Perry Show.
- KHNL 8 swung by to see the activities at the Hawaii Convention Center.
- KHNL 8 and KGMB 9 were at the Grand Parade on Sunday March 16th.
- Highlights of the Honolulu Festival were filmed by ‘Olelo Community Television for the second year in a row and will be shown in the near future.
- Honolulu Advertiser and Star Bulletin spent a few hours on Saturday March 15th walking through the Hawaii Convention Center and talking to the participants and attendees, getting ideas for their Sunday articles.
- Cox Radio’s KCCN FM 100 and Power 104.3 had live coverage from the Hawaii Convention Center.
The Honolulu Festival Foundation thanks the radio and television stations and the newspapers that support our festival. We hope to continue to be creative and expand as we go into our 15th year. Please stay tuned for the Honolulu Festival in 2009!
