The 2021 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival

July 12, 2021 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

Save the date: August 28, 2021. The Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival is back!

Pandemic restrictions for larger in-person gatherings have been relaxed and the Royal Hawaiian Center is resuming its cultural presentations at the Royal Grove stage.

After being canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week will return in a modified format as activities are eased back to pre-pandemic levels. This year's event will be a single-day event billed as the 11th Annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival. In recent years, the Festival has been combined with the weeklong Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week.

This year's festival will be presented in two segments on August 28.

The morning segment will begin at 11 AM and feature steel guitarists Steve Cheney, Kapono Lopes, Jeff Au Hoy, and Greg Sardinha. The morning program will continue to 2 PM, with each artist presenting their own individual program. Hula will also be featured.

The afternoon segment will begin at 4:30 PM and feature performances by steel guitarists Bobby Ingano and Alan Akaka. NextGen keiki steel guitarists Enosa Lyman, Tai Misailidis, Pono Fernandez, Joey Misailidis, and Mālie Lyman will also perform in the afternoon segment. The program will continue to 6:30 PM.

"The intermission between segments is to avoid what might be the hottest part of the day," said Monte McComber, Cultural Director for the Royal Hawaiian Center.

The festival will also be livestreamed on the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week and Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase Facebook pages and the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase YouTube Channel.

This year's Waikiki Steel Guitar Festival is supported by the Royal Hawaiian Center.

Pending other "surprise" opportunities, HIMELE plans to resume in-person steel guitar festivals beginning in 2022. Announcements will be made as dates and venues are finalized. In the interim and possibly beyond that, Hawaiian Steel Guitar showcases will be livestreamed each month on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase's Facebook page and YouTube channel.