Aloha Mai Kakou!

The Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week, incorporating the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival, is a week-long event celebrating Hawaiian music and the Hawaiian steel guitar. The annual event will be held at the Royal Hawaiian Center's Royal Grove stage during the week of July 10-15, 2023.

Monday through Thursday evening concerts will feature one-hour performances by different Hawaiian steel guitar artists and ensembles. Alan Akaka and The Islanders, Mālie Lyman, Greg Sardinha and Po‘okela, and NextGen steel guitarists will perform this year.

The 2^nd Annual Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival will be presented on Friday, July 14, 2023, from 4 PM to 6:30 PM and feature steel guitarists Noriko and Shuji Tomita, Paul Okubo, Matt Kobayashi and Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi, all from Japan, will participate this year. Special guest Boo Takagi will also perform.

The 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 split program is designed to provide festival guests a break between the festival program and avoid what might be the hottest part of the afternoon.

Emcee for the Monday-Thursday concerts will be Monte McComber. The Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival's emcee will be Reiko Tokushige Rogers, and Saturday's Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival will be hosted by Kimo Kahoano.

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

The festival's Friday and Saturday programs will 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.