The first Hilo Lei Day Festival was held on 1 May 2005 at the Wailoa Art Center. We invite you to join us for our big celebration in 2025!
The Hilo Lei Day Festival is celebrated on 1 May at Kalākaua Park in downtown Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Kalākaua Park was Hilo’s original town square.
The mission of the Hilo Lei Day Festival is to preserve and perpetuate the traditional Hawaiian terminology, culture, craftsmanship, and ecology of the lei. One way to support our work is to download a copy of Hua ʻŌlelo Lei: A Lei Maker’s Dictionary.
Though we had to skip the festival one year due to covid, we did continue our educational programs on-line.
The Hilo Lei Day Festival is free and open to the public. Always on 1 May, it moves across the week, providing opportunity for people to attend at least every few years, no matter what their schedule. It’s a great event for home schoolers, alternative schools, families, keiki, makua, and kūpuna.
For information on participating in the Hilo Lei Day Festival 2025 – 20 Years of Lei, please write us at info@leiday.org. If you would like for your school or group to participate, please let us know! We provide educational programs for groups and individuals who are interested in participating.