Performers from Italy and Mexico join this year’s Honolulu Festival

Wave the flag for the Honolulu Festival, the multicultural celebration that strolls into Waikiki, the Hawai‘i Convention Center and Ala Moana Center this weekend.

“We have more than 140 performers and groups coming from all over the Pacific Rim, like Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Australia, U.S. mainland, and of course we also have several local acts that will be showcased as well,” said festival spokeswoman Ashley Nagaoka.

This year, the 22nd anniversary of the festival, will also feature a performing group from Faenza, Italy — the first European organization to participate in the festival, which until now had featured only acts from Pacific Rim cultures. The festival has close ties to Japan through its sponsor, JTB Hawaii.

“They’re showcasing the Italian sport of flag throwing, and they’re going to have trumpets and drums,” Nagaoka said. “We’re excited to see it.”

Flag throwing in Italy is a tradition that dates from medieval times, when flags were a kind of “branding” symbol for merchant or trade guilds and the ability to maneuver a flag was comparable to swordplay. Competitions these days involve complicated individual and team routines set to music in which the flag bearers, who often dress in medieval costumes and are known as “sbandieratori,” whip the flags around them, juggle them and toss them high in the air.

THE FAENZA team, which performs at 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:45 p.m. Sunday at the convention center, has won Italian flag throwing championships more than 30 times. Nagaoka said the group contacted festival organizers and asked to perform.

“That just goes to show the popularity and the reach of this event,” Nagaoka said. “It’s really become this event that expanded past the Pacific Rim to include all cultures.”

Another international first this year will be an appearance by the Leones-Tigres Marching Band from Veracruz, Mexico. On Sunday evening, the 150-member band will be the first Mexican marching band in the Honolulu Festival Parade. It will be joined by the Ballet Gran Ensamble Mexico, a folk dancing troupe.

While much of the festival will include the usual fun activities — music and dancing, arts and crafts, and the kid-friendly Ennichi Carnival Corner at the convention center — this year’s festival will strike a more serious note with a symposium, “The Japanese in Hawaii: From the Plantation to Pearl Harbor to Peace,” (2-4 p.m. Saturday at the convention center). University of Hawaii professors and other experts will discuss the history of the Japanese in Hawaii and their role in reconciliation after World War II.

The symposium is in keeping with this year’s festival theme, “Cultural Harmony, Journey to Peace.”

“It’s definitely a different tone than we see every year,” Nagaoka said.

JAPANESE FILMS will screen at the Convention Center’s room 311. Just don’t go to in hungry, since most of the films are about food: “Ramen Samurai” (10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday) is about a young man who has to take over his father’s noodle bar in a community beset by gentrification; “The God of Ramen” (12:15 p.m. Saturday) is about a ramen master facing medical issues and the death of his wife; “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” (2 p.m. Saturday) is about Jiro Ono, whose 10-seat restaurant in a Tokyo subway station won a three-star rating from the Michelin Guide; and “A Tale of Samurai Cooking” (3:45 p.m. Saturday) is about a woman who marries into a family legendary for its cooking prowess only to discover her husband doesn’t cook.

Another foodie film is “Mourning Recipe,” (11:45 a.m. Sunday), about a recently divorced woman who rebuilds her life through her late mother’s recipe book. Locals also might be amused by “Chigasaki Story” (9:45 a.m. Sunday), which involves a young innkeeper’s daughter who recently returned from her wedding in Hawaii.

IF THE latest “Star Wars” film has rekindled your lightsaber force, or if you’re just interested in a new exercise routine, check out AGEHA, an all-women sword performance group from Japan. Created by a Japanese choreographer Ukon Takafuji, the exercise uses samurai-style gestures and light, nonlethal swords. They’re scheduled to perform at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the convention center.

Dance is always a highlight at the festival. Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and Okinawan dances will be perform, as will hula. But if you want to dance yourself, there’s bon dancing on Saturday and Sunday, and the Aloha Dance Convention, an all-genres dance competition Saturday night at the convention center. Professional dancers will be on hand to provide inspiration and the winners of the competition will be invited to perform Sunday during the festival’s Waikiki Grand Parade.

Things wrap up Sunday with the parade at 4:30 p.m. The parade features marching bands, dance groups, mikoshi lantern-balancing teams and the fire-breathing dragon Daijayama. But possibly the most intriguing group will be the Minna Unicycle Club. The local club consists of girls aged 6 to 9 who perform tricks on the one-wheelers. Fireworks from Nagaoka, Japan, famed for their booming explosions and brilliant colors, will close out the evening and the festival to music broadcast by Hawaiian 105 KINE (105.1 FM).

“We want to provide both our residents and our visitors the opportunities to experience all different types cultures,” Nagaoka said.