Kona Steel Guitar Festival Grand Finale

January 19, 2025 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

The 2025 Kona Steel Guitar Festival will feature several steel guitar artists from Hawai‘i and the mainland US. The artist lineup offers a variety of steel guitar artistry, including acoustic and hard body steels, Hawaiian traditional and contemporary music, and even some Country and Western swing.

The 2025 Kona festival will be the last festival offered at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa, at least for the time being. The festival will go on hiatus at that venue due to the termination of the annual Aloha Music Camp. The festival has been presented in tandem with the Camp for several years and has provided Campers the ability to extend their steel guitar experience and even participate in the festival's Open Stage performances.

Highlighting this year's festival will be O‘ahu steel guitarists will be Alan Akaka, Bobby Ingano, Mālie Lyman, and Devin Nakahara. Maui steel guitarist Geronimo "Geri" Valdriz will also join the lineup, as will Hawai‘i Island steel guitarist Dwight Tokumoto.

Also featured in the 2025 festival will be mainland steel guitarists Billy Cardine from North Carolina, Patti Maxine from Northern California, and Colin John who splits his time between Ohio and Hawai‘i. Colin John is well-known for his blues guitar stylings but is also a seasoned steel guitar player.

Mainland steel guitarists Billy Cardine, Patti Maxine, and Colin John

Open Stage performance will feature some regular performers and NextGen steel guitarists. The festival will be held at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa beginning on February 27 and running through March 1. The comprehensive festival will include Thursday visits to local area schools to educate students about Hawaiian music, culture, and the Hawaiian steel guitar. Also featured will be a steel guitar exhibit and hands-on opportunities for festival guests to learn more about the steel guitar and a workshop combining "talk story" with steel guitar techniques. Evening kanikapila will provide festival guests to sing and play along with festival artists in an informal group setting. The highlights of the festival include Open Stage performances on Friday and a steel guitar concert on Saturday that will be presented in two parts as with previous years

Saturday's concert will be livestreamed.

Although the Kona festival will be put on hiatus after the 2025 event, the Hawai‘i Island Steel Guitar Experience at Mauna Lani will continue as usual. This annual festival will be presented in the November timeframe at the Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection.