Prince Lot Hula Festival

Prince Lot Hula Festival
Name	Prince Lot Hula Festival
Caption	Hula performance at Kaʻohe Bay
Location	Kaʻūpūlehu, Hawaiʻi Island, Kona District
Founded	1977
Founder	royal namesakes / Prince Lot Kapuāiwa
Dates	July (annual)
Genre	Hula, Hawaiian music

Prince Lot Hula Festival is an annual celebration of hula and Hawaiian culture held on Hawaiʻi Island in honor of Prince Lot Kapuāiwa. The event attracts ʻōlapa, kumu hula, and cultural practitioners from across the State of Hawaii and the Pacific, featuring traditional chant, dance, and mele in the locale associated with 19th‑century aliʻi. It functions as both a competitive venue and a communal hui that links modern practitioners with pre‑contact and royal era traditions.

History

The festival traces origins to local commemoration efforts on Hawaiʻi Island and civic celebrations of aliʻi such as Prince Lot Kapuāiwa and King Kamehameha IV, reflecting revival movements connected to figures like King David Kalākaua. Beginning in the late 20th century alongside wider Hawaiian cultural renaissance movements exemplified by the 1970s revival of ʻAha Pūnana Leo and the reestablishment of hula pahu traditions, the festival grew through partnerships with organizations including Office of Hawaiian Affairs advocates and community groups such as local hālau hula. Influences from pan‑Polynesian exchanges involving practitioners from Samoa, Tonga, and Tahiti shaped format and repertoire, as did relationships with institutions like Bishop Museum and regional events such as the Merrie Monarch Festival.

Cultural Significance

As a keystone cultural event, the festival situates hula ʻauana and hula kahiko within genealogical and land‑based narratives tied to sites like Kaʻohe Bay and historical ʻāina associated with aliʻi. It functions in the lineage transmission model used by kumu hula and connects to broader Hawaiian cultural policy debates involving entities like Hawaiian Homes Commission Act stakeholders and community advocates in Honolulu. The festival also intersects with contemporary movements for language revitalization led by groups such as ʻAha Pūnana Leo and educational initiatives at institutions like University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Kamehameha Schools.

Festival Events and Performances

Programming encompasses competitive and non‑competitive performances in both hula kahiko (ancient chant and percussion) and hula ʻauana (modern melodic dance), alongside mele performances referencing aliʻi histories such as those connected to Kamehameha I and Lunalilo. The schedule typically includes puʻili and ʻiliʻili demonstrations, oli sessions, ho‘olauleʻa marketplaces featuring vendors influenced by Hawaiian Quilt Society artisans, and workshop series offered by noted kumu from networks that include practitioners associated with Merrie Monarch Festival laureates. Special presentations often engage guest artists from Polynesian diasporas including Rarotonga, New Zealand, and Fiji.

Participants and Competitions

Competitors range from youth ʻōlapa enrolled in hālau to elder kumu hula recognized in directories like those maintained by cultural centers. Categories mirror standards used by major contests, with placements judged by panels including noted figures from Bishop Museum, Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, and independent adjudicators who have worked with festivals such as Heiva i Tahiti. Awards often recognize excellence in chant composition, choreography, ʻawa protocol, and kāholo patterns, and winners sometimes proceed to national platforms alongside artists associated with Nā Hōkū Hanohano nominations.

Venue and Logistics

Events are staged at coastal venues and fairsites on Hawaiʻi Island near historic sites linked to Prince Lot, with infrastructure coordinated with county agencies in Hawaii County. Production requires coordination of stage design for ʻiliʻili flooring, sound systems appropriate for ipu and pahu, permitting with agencies that manage ʻāina access, and lodging arrangements involving nearby towns such as Kailua‑Kona and service providers used by touring ensembles from Honolulu and other Pacific centers. Accessibility, cultural protocols for pāʻū and lei, and seasonal weather patterns tied to trade winds inform scheduling and contingency planning.

Organization and Sponsorship

The festival is produced by local cultural nonprofits and community coalitions that interface with funding sources including state arts councils, private foundations, and corporate sponsors with Hawaiian ties. Collaborators have historically included regional museums such as Bishop Museum, higher education programs at University of Hawaiʻi, and nonprofit advocates linked to Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and community trusts. Sponsorship models balance corporate underwriting, grants from entities like state arts agencies, and grassroots fundraising that engages ʻohana and community boards.

Impact and Legacy

Over decades the festival has contributed to sustaining lineages of kumu hula and provided performance and scholarship opportunities intersecting with archives at institutions such as Bishop Museum and academic programs in Hawaiian studies at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. It has influenced regional cultural tourism patterns involving visitors from Honolulu, mainland United States, and international Pacific communities, while intersecting with preservation efforts related to historic sites tied to aliʻi. The festival’s legacy includes documented choreography, mele repositories used by educators at Kamehameha Schools, and strengthened networks among Polynesian cultural practitioners reflected in ongoing exchanges with festivals like Merrie Monarch Festival and Heiva i Tahiti.

Category:Hawaiian festivals Category:Hula