Get Ready for the 8^th Annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week

June 3, 2026 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

The 2026 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week kicks off on Sunday, July 5 with steel guitar entertainment throughout the week ending on Sunday, July 12. The format of this year's event is similar to last year's, with the Hula Grill Waikiki kicking the week's activities with their Steel Guitar Sunday program featuring Alan Akaka.

The Week's Monday through Thursday evening events include concerts and the 1^st Annual Ho‘okūkū Kīkā Kila Amateur Hawaiian Steel Guitar contest. The concerts on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday will be emceed by Royal Hawaiian Center's Cultural Director Monte McComber and feature NextGEN steel guitarists on Monday, Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi on Tuesday, celebrating this 93^rd birthday, and Masami Sato and Makana on Thursday. These weekday performances begin at 5:30 PM

Ho‘okūkū Kīkā Kila will be held on Wednesday beginning at 4:30 with four divisions: a non-compete "Try" for steel players who want to perform without being judged, and Keiki (17 years and younger), Open Amateur (ages 18-59), and Kūpuna (ages 60 and older) Divisions in which contestants will compete for prize awards.

J-FESTA 2026 – the 5^th Annual Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival will be presented on Friday beginning at 3:00 PM and continuing through 6:30 PM. Japanese artists include Michiyo Fujita, moani ito, Yukio Katagiri, Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi, Masami "Matt" Kobayashi and Friends (Leonard Jenkins, Hovey Lambert, Poki‘i Vaughan, Ernie Morikubo, Caroline Affonso, and Kela Cuban), Paul Okubo, and Masami Sato and Makana. Emcees for the festival will be Masami Sato and Alan Akaka. The festival will be livestreamed.

The 16^th Annual Waikiki Steel Guitar Festival will be presented on Saturday in two sessions. The first session will run from 11:00 AM through 1:50 PM and feature Steve Cheney, Geronimo "Geri" Valdriz, Greg Sardinha and Po'okela (Darrell Aquino and Zachary Castro), Malie Lyman, and Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi. The second session will begin at 4:00 PM and feature Masami Sato and Makana, Bobby Ingano, the first place finishers of Ho‘okūkū Kīkā Kila, and Alan Akaka & the Islanders.

Emcee for this festival will be Kimo Kahoano.

Closing events on Sunday, July 12, include a Steel Guitar Sunday Hana Hou! at Hula Grill Waikiki and a Grand Finale at Waikiki Beach Walk's Plaza Stage featuring NextGEN steel guitarists and emerging stars.

Most performances will be at the Royal Hawaiian Center's Royal Grove outdoor stage, except those at Hula Grill Waikiki on Sunday and the Waikiki Beach Walk presentation. All performances are free and open to the public.

For complete event information including performer biographies and complete event program, please see the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival website.