King Kamehameha Day

This weekend celebrates King Kamehameha Day in Hawaii, which is observed on June 11th each year. King Kamehameha I, or King Kamehameha the Great, is responsible for uniting the Hawaiian Islands into the Kingdom of Hawaii.

This year, Monday is a holiday for state workers and any other businesses recognizing the holiday. The celebration began in O’ahu, with a lei draping ceremony at the statue of King Kamehameha located at Ali’iolani Hale. It’s an impressive site in person, to see the great statue and the long strands of flower and maile lei draped from his arms. There were also flowers laid at the base of the statue. You may have seen the statue featured in the opening sequence of Hawaii 5-0…

Some photos I took this weekend, in front of Ali’iolani Hale in downtown Honolulu, of the King Kamehameha statue adorned with lei for Kamehameha Day:

With iPhone:
Kamehameha the Great

With my Canon EOS Rebel T2i:
In Honor of King Kamehameha Day

Some events I found online at the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission’s page:

Events on Oahu:
June 8th, a lei draping ceremony took place at 3:30 PM HST, at the statue of King Kamehameha fronting Ali’iolani Hale in downtown Honolulu
June 9th: 96th Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade
June 9th: Ho’olaulea at Kapiolani Park from 10AM – 4PM HST

Events on the Big Island of Hawaii:
June 10th: Hilo Lei Draping ceremony on Sunday, 5:00 p.m. at the King Kamehameha Statue, Hilo bayfront.
June 10th: Kamehameha Day Ho`olaule`a at Coconut Island, 9:00am – 4:00pm.
June 11th: Kohala – Lei Draping Ceremony at the King Kamehameha Statue at 8:00am, Floral Parade at 9:00am and a Ho`olaule`a at 10:00am
June 16th: Kona – King Kamehameha Parade at 9:00 a.m. on Ali`i Drive. Ho`olaule`a at Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel from 8:00am – 3:00pm with a free concert featuring Grammy award-winning Cyril Pahinui, Darlene Ahuna and more. www.konaparade.org
April 22nd: Waimea- Pa`u demonstration at Anna’s Ranch from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. The public is welcomed to attend and learn about the many components of and fascinating history of Pa`u riding.

Events on Maui:
June 16: Ho`olaule`a at Kamehameha `Iki Park at 9:00am, Parade at Front Street at 9:45am

Events on Kaua`i:
June 16th: King Kamehameha Celebration parade at 9:00 a.m. Ho`olaule`a to follow.

Next year, I think I’m going to try to be at the lei draping ceremony and the parade here in Honolulu.

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2 Responses to King Kamehameha Day

  1. rid says:

    ooh… forgot you got a dslr. i might have a holga lens laying around somewhere for you. hopefully it’s for canon and not nikon.

    • honeybee says:

      Yay! That’s super nice of you to think of me. :) Also, you are my very 1st legit comment! I have 50 comments that were spam so far, so I was stoked to actually have a real honest-to-god comment on my blog. Mahalo Rid!!!

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