Royal Hawaiian Center Launches Steel Guitar Fridays

August 30, 2025 • Addison Ching • News

The Royal Hawaiian Center has launched a new weekly program called "Steel Guitar Fridays." This program will be offered each Friday during 2025 and feature Hawaiian steel guitar performances and hula.

Monte McComber, Cultural Director for the Royal Hawaiian Center, came up with the idea. The series premiered on June 20 with a one-hour concert by Dylan Nakahara, a steel guitar veteran who has performed at many steel guitar festivals produced by HIMELE.

Steel Guitar Fridays will feature many local steel guitarists including Alan Akaka, Greg Sardinha, Bobby Ingano, and NextGEN steel guitarists from Ke Kula Mele School of Hawaiian Music. The program will be presented on each Friday beginning at 5:30 PM and run through 6:30 PM on the center's Royal Grove stage.

Steel Guitar Fridays Concert featuring Alan Akaka & The Islanders with hula.

This event extends the Center's promotion of the Hawaiian steel guitar and complements the annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week that is presented each year in July. Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week includes nightly one-hour steel guitar performances Monday through Thursday, the Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival on Friday, and the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival on Saturday. The 2025 Week also incorporated performances by the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association (HSGA) which coordinated its Waikiki Festival '25 with the week's events.

This program extends the Hawaiian steel guitar experience in Waikiki. Hula Grill Waikiki previously announced their Steel Guitar Sundays program which offers a two-hour presentation featuring the Hawaiian steel guitar. The Hula Grill Waikiki program is presented on the first Sunday of each month through 2025.