Kapolei Festival Kicks Off 2019 Series

October 23, 2018 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

The first Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival for 2019 will be held at the Ka Makana Ali'i shopping mall in Kapolei on Saturday, February 16, 2019. The festival kicks off at 11 A.M.

The 2019 festival will feature Alan Akaka, Jeff Au Hoy, Bobby Ingano, Kapono Lopes, and Greg Sardinha. Next Generation steel guitarists and musicians Pono Fernandez, Malie Lyman, and Joey and Tai Misailidis will also appear in the program which is expected to run through 3 P.M.

Kapono Lopes
Photo by Helemano Lee

Kapono Lopes and Jeff Au Hoy at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki
Photo by Daphne Rice

This will be Kapono Lopes' first appearance at a Hawaiian steel guitar festival. He will also be featured at other HIMELE steel guitar festivals throughout the State in 2019.

The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival at Ka Makana Ali'i will also include a demonstration table where festival guests can learn more about the Hawaiian steel guitar and have hands-on experiences with the instrument under the guidance of a steel guitar expert.

While normally held in March, this year's festival date was switched with the 2019 Kaua'i Steel Guitar Festival. That event was moved to March to accommodate the hotel's renovation project which is expected to be completed mid-February. The 2019 Kaua'i festival will be held on March 1-2, 2019, instead.

All HIMELE steel guitar festivals are supported in part by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaii and by the National Endowment for the Arts. For a complete listing of the 2019 festivals, please see www.himele.org.

HSGF