Kona Steel Guitar Festival to Go On Hiatus after 2025

September 10, 2024 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

The annual Kona Steel Guitar Festival will go on hiatus after the 2025 event.

The decision to suspend the festival was made by HIMELE after the announcement from Aloha Music Camp that the 2025 Camp will be their last.

HIMELE has presented a festival that has been coordinated with the Aloha Music Camp since 2016 when it was located on Kaua‘i. The coordinated festival/Camp was originally created to offer a Hawaiian steel guitar festival to the Kaua‘i community and extend the steel guitar experience available to interested Aloha Music Camp participants.

A new coordinated festival, the Kona Steel Guitar Festival, was created by HIMELE in 2023 when Aloha Music Camp relocated to Keauhou on Hawai‘i Island. HIMELE continued the annual Kaua‘i Steel Guitar Festival on Kaua‘i after the Camp's move to Hawai‘i Island.

This festival included the elements of most resort-based festivals: a concert, Open Stage performances, workshops, kanikapila sessions, hands-on experiences, a steel guitar exhibit, and visitations to local area schools to enlighten students about the Hawaiian steel guitar.

The sususpension of the Kona Steel Guitar Festival will not affect the other Hawai‘i Island festival, the Hawai‘i Island Steel Guitar Festival (now incorporated into the Hawai‘i Island Steel Guitar Experience) which was first presented in 2017 at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows. This year's Experience will be presented on November 21-24, 2024 and incorporate the Resort's Twilight at Kalāhuipua‘a cultural program as has been done since Auberge Resorts took over the resort's ownership and management.

The Kona Steel Guitar Festival may be resumed at some future point in time, based on area demographic and financial considerations. Hawai‘i island residents and resort guests are encouraged to visit the Hawai‘i Island Steel Guitar Experience website for information about the Mauna Lani festival.