The 2020 Kaua‘i Steel Guitar Festival

December 22, 2019 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

Eight Hawaiian steel guitar masters will be featured in the 2020 Kaua‘i Steel Guitar Festival. The 5^th Annual festival will be held on February 28 and 29, 2020, at the Sheraton Kaua‘i Coconut Beach Resort, the rebranded name of the former Courtyard Kaua‘i at Coconut Beach. The newly-renovated resort features both facility updates and resdesigns.

Veteran Kaua‘i steel guitarists Ed Punua and Kilipaki Vaughan will be joined by steel guitarists Alan Akaka, Bobby Ingano, Kapono Lopes, Greg Sardinha, Geri Valdriz, and Dave "DK" Kolars from DeKalb, Illinois. Four NextGen steel guitarists ages 11-16 will also perform in the festival's main program on Saturday.

Kapono Lopes at the 2019 Festival

Alan Akaka at the 2019 Festival

The 2020 festival will feature an unprecedented number of Open Stage artists. The group includes Aloha Music Camp registrants, several Kaua‘i steel guitarists, several festival newcomers, and members of the Ke Kula Mele Hawai‘i School of Hawaiian Music. Ten half-hour performance sessions will be presented at Friday's Open Stage program.

The festival will also feature steel guitar workshops and a vintage steel guitar exhibit featuring instruments from the collections of Marty Curnan and Geri Valdriz.

The former Makai Lounge is now the Sunrise restaurant and the indoor bar has been moved outdoors. The buffet restaurant has been updated and additional food service facilities have been developed including an on-site seafood restaurant, Moamoa Hawaiian Fish House. For additional photos of the renovated resort, please see the resort's website. A link to the hotel's registration system will be added to the festival website when it becomes available. Festival guests can take advantage of special festival rates via this link.