The 18th annual Hono­lulu Festival, a celebration of the cultural diversity of the Asia-Pacific, returns to the isles this year stronger for the tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on the eve of last year’s event, casting a damper over the planned festivities.

Visiting performers from the Asia-Pacific will entertain crowds at the free two-day festival, which takes place Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4. Attendance at this year’s festival is expected to be more robust than it was last year when about 30 performing groups from Japan, comprising more than 800 visitors, had to cancel their trip to Hono­lulu along with a planned fireworks show from Nagaoka.

This year the Nagaoka fireworks show will take place in Waikiki, marking the first time that the famous display has made an appearance outside Japan. Festival organizers also anticipate that some 4,500 visitors will come to Hawaii for this year’s festival and that they’ll spend nearly $11 million while they celebrate the culture, customs and traditions of Asians and Pacific islanders. Altogether some 75,000 residents and visitors are expected to attend the festival’s cultural performances, parade and fireworks.

"We encourage everyone to come out and show their support for our visiting performers and celebrate the beauty of our different cultures in the Pacific Rim," said Keiichi Tsujino, president of the Honolulu Festival Foundation. "With free admission and the variety of all there is to enjoy, the Honolulu Festival is perfect for family fun and entertainment."

The Hawai‘i Convention Center, Ala Moana Center and the Waikiki Beach Walk will host educational and cultural exhibits and performers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Following Sunday’s performances, events will move to the heart of Waikiki, where a grand parade will move down Kalakaua Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Afterward the Nagaoka Fireworks show will light up Waikiki.

Festival numbers, which dwindled last year in the wake of Japan’s tragedy, are expected to return to 2010 levels, said Akio Hoshino, president of JTB Hawaii Travel LLC.

"The Japan market is coming back," Hoshino said. "We had a very bad tragedy last March, but Hawaii as a destination is doing very good. We started to recover in June, and this year we are expecting to get back to where we were."

Visitors from the Asia-Pacific are drawn to the event, which is traditionally held in March to spark travel from the region during a period of slower tourism, said Danny Ojiri, vice president of sales and marketing at Outrigger Enterprises Group, one of the main festival sponsors.

"March is not a robust travel period from Asia," Ojiri said. "This event helps to fill in the gaps, and this year it’s particularly important because it brings the market back to some sense of normalcy after the tragedy."

Attendance at events like the Honolulu Festival helps fill hotel rooms and boost revenues throughout the visitor industry, said David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group.

"Firmly established events and activities like the Honolulu Festival excite travelers from throughout the Pacific and entice them to visit our island state," Carey said.

While most of the festival tourism stems from Japan, the events also attracts performers and visitors from China, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Canada, Alaska, the mainland and Hawaii.

The festival also is a boon for Oahu retailers, said Conchita Malaqui, general manager of the Waikiki Beach Walk, where many of the festival events will take place.

"Our pedestrian traffic will more than double," Malaqui said. "Everybody wants to come and swim in all the different cultures. Our restaurants see a substantial increase in business, and our retailers benefit, too."

The people of Honolulu will also benefit from the festival’s main purpose, which is to foster Pacific harmony, said Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle.

The theme of this year’s festival is "Bonding together, hand in hand," said Carlisle, who issued a city proclamation at Tuesday’s press conference acknowledging March 3 and 4 as Honolulu Festival Days.

"I am also very pleased to welcome Nagaoka as our fifth and newest sister city," he said. "We’ve had a long-standing relationship with the city through our Hono­lulu Festival."

Last year, Carlisle said he traveled to Nagaoka to address a crowd of 400,000 and invite them to Honolulu.

"I heard them say ‘aloha’ back after I said ‘aloha,’ which is a good thing," he said.

This year’s fireworks show will strengthen bonds between Nagaoka and Hono­lulu, two cities that experienced casualties in World War II, Carlisle said.

"Nagaoka was firebombed about five days before the end of the war," he said. "The fireworks are their way of honoring the souls that had died."

By establishing a sister-city relationship with Nagaoka, Honolulu will build on the usual work of the Chamber of Commerce, Carlisle said.

"Through it we’ll promote trade, cultural understanding, art and education," he said.