I look forward to the Merrie Monarch Festival every year. The week is full of activities around town. The streets and retail shops seem to be busy and we have new, albeit temporary, venues offering Hawaiian food. You see more lau lau and small tubs of poi in the stores and the Big Island air is just filled with the aloha spirit.
Crafts booths are in the hotel lobbies, the Butler Building, the Civic Auditorium, Sangha Hall, Prince Kuhio Plaza and the Hilo Shopping Center. Throughout every day of the week, there are brief exhibitions of hula from various halau along Banyan Drive and hotel occupancy is high. You have to plan ahead if you want to visit Hilo this time of year–there are no last-minute rental cars available during Merrie Monarch.
Each year, I look forward to having the “Hawaiian plate” at my favorite place between HPM and Carpet Isle. I run into so many friends there. This vendor has been coming to the same location every year for as long as I have been in Hilo.
Merrie Monarch Week is a great time of year for everyone to enjoy the richness of Hawaii’s island culture. It’s sad that three beloved long-time Merrie Monarch supporters are no longer with us this year, but I think the tradition will go on for many years to come in their memory.
