Aloha Mai Kakou!

The 8^th Annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week, incorporating the Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival and the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival, will be a week-long event celebrating Hawaiian music and the Hawaiian steel guitar. The annual event will be held primarily at the Royal Grove Stage at Helumoa, the royalty playground at the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikīkī. Performances at other Waikīkī venues including Hula Grill Waikīkī and Waikīkī Beach Walk Plaza will also be offered. This year's event has been extended a day to incorporate the Plaza's special Mele Hali‘a program that will feature NextGEN steel guitarists on July 12.

The 2026 annual event will be held at the Royal Hawaiian Center's Royal Grove stage and other Waikīkī venues during the week of July 5-12, 2026.

Hula Grill Waikiki will kick off the weeklong celebration with a continuation of their Steel Guitar Sundays monthly program featuring the Hawaiian steel guitar. The two-hour performance on July 5 will feature Alan Akaka & the Islanders.

Monday through Thursday evening concerts will feature one-hour performances by different Hawaiian steel guitar artists and ensembles. Alan Akaka and The Islanders, Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi, NextGEN steel guitarists, and Masami Sato & Makana will perform this year. Lion will perform on his 93^rd birthday.

The 5^th Annual Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival will be presented on Friday, July 10, 2026, from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM and feature steel guitarists from Japan.

The 16^th Annnual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival's Saturday ho‘olaule‘a performances will feature various Hawaiian steel guitar artists and bands in two performance segments. The first segment will be presented at 11:00 AM - 2:20 PM and the second segment will begin at 4:00 PM and run through 6:30 PM.

The 2026 event will conclude on Sunday with a performance by NextGEN steel guitarists at the Waikīkī Beach Walk's Plaza Stage.

All events will be presented free to the public by the Royal Hawaiian Center and are produced by the Hawaii Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE™).

Friday's Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival program and Saturday's Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival program will both be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube. Access to the livestreams was via the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase Facebook Page or the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase YouTube Channel where all livestreams are archived for demand viewing.