Ekko Ota, a kumu hula from Okinawa, just attended a hula festival last week in Kona; however, she’s returning in November to participate in the 21st World Invitational Hula Festival.

"The economy in Japan is not so good right now, but hula is very popular," said Ota, whose dance group, Halau Hula Kalakaua, has been coming to the WIHF for nearly a decade. "We’ve got some dancers and cheerleaders coming, and we are still recruiting." 

Paulie Keakealani Jennings, the 82-year-old who has been producing the WIHF since 1991, is counting on Ota and leaders from other Japanese-based halau to help her struggling nonprofit event survive. The international event, which has brought millions of dollars into Hawaii’s economy during its tenure, is still trying to recover from the global economic downturn and disruptions due to last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.

Last year the festival lost thousands of dollars after the U.S. State Department forced it to make a last-minute, security-related venue change that resulted in added transportation, marketing and printing costs. This year, financial challenges have reduced sponsorships and forced several international groups to cancel their plans to come, Jennings said.

"There have been a lot of challenges, but we are going to make it work," she said.

Support from Japan, which has seen the popularity of hula grow since the Great East Japan Earthquake, has made a scaled-down event possible, Jennings said.

"It’s a year of transition for us," she said. "This is the first year that we’ll only have teams from Japan and Hawaii. When times get better economically, we’ll expand the event again."

In the meantime, Jennings is searching for additional sponsors. She also has pared down the event from a three-day to a two-day schedule and has changed its venue from the Waikiki Shell to the less expensive and more intimate Queen Kapiolani Hotel, which has been the event’s host hotel for many years.

"Queen Kapiolani Hotel is very excited to have more of our business," she said.

While the festival has attracted more than 450 participants in good years, Jennings said she is pleased with this year’s anticipated turnout of 274. The smaller festival will build on the success of last weekend’s World Invitational Hula Festival Japan, a sister event now in its second year, she said.

"The Japan festival did very well. They all want to come here, so I am hopeful that this enthusiasm will help make our event a success," Jennings said.

Ota said that she and her assistant Poli Masao Takagi, who is one of a few male dancers in the Okinawa-based halau, plan to promote the event in Japan.

"It’s very important," Ota said. "Hula in Japan is very popular, but it’s not always traditional. We must study in Hawaii so that it’s not just waving hands and shaking okole. It must mean something."

Kilohana Silve, WIHF board vice president and founder of Halau Hula o’ Manoa in France, said the emphasis on learning Hawaiian culture and values in a supportive setting differentiates the WIHF from other competitive-based festivals and in the past has helped it attract a wide range of international attendees.

"Paulie’s festival was the first opportunity for many foreign halau to perform in Hawaii," Silve said. "The format was thought out very carefully by the greatest living hula masters of the day. They saw hula around the world was spreading, and they all determined that this festival was needed."

Since its inception the WIHF has served as an outreach to people all over the world, Silve said.

"It opens doors and builds bridges to Hawaii that benefit all aspects of the economy," she said. "For this reason and many others, it must survive."