The 55th annual Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo began accepting mailed-in ticket requests to the hula competition Friday.

Prices range from $5 for one general admission ticket on Miss Aloha Hula night to $40 for reserved seating all three nights. The requests must be postmarked Dec. 1 or later. Requests postmarked before Friday’s date will not be accepted.

Payment must be in the form of a cashier’s check or money order in U.S. dollars, along with a self-addressed and stamped envelope. Each person may purchase a maximum of two tickets.

The 2018 hula competition takes place April 5 to 7, beginning with the Miss Aloha Hula solo competition Thursday evening, followed by group kahiko and auana competitions Friday and Saturday.

For decades, ticket requests were accepted Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, but the nonprofit festival organization moved the date up to Dec. 1 in 2015 to give attendees more time to make travel accommodations.

Ticket requests must be mailed to the festival’s office at 865 Piilani St., Hilo, HI 96720. Ticket request forms and instructions are available at merriemonarch.com.