Although the 35th Okinawan Festival is expected to draw huge crowds this Labor Day weekend, it may be the last time it’s held at Kapiolani Park.
Organizers are looking to move it indoors next year.
The threat of hurricanes (which canceled last year’s festival), rain and heat, and a decline in volunteers — including skilled labor such as electricians and plumbers — have contributed to the Hawaii United Okinawa Association’s decision to begin its search for a suitable indoor venue.
“We’re trying to get young people involved,” said association President Vince Watabu. “A lot of people are getting old, can’t come out or have passed away.”
Presidents of the 50 HUOA clubs solicited the opinions of club members, and more than 30 voted in favor of moving it indoors for three years, he said.
The Hawai‘i Convention Center appears to be the only option large enough, Watabu said.
While a committee has begun the search, “it’s not a done deal yet,” he said, adding that the vote was needed to proceed to conduct a study into the indoor alternative. “We need to take a look at the final numbers. If the numbers don’t come out, we’ll stay at Kapiolani Park.”
Many knew of the impending change, and a large number of volunteers came out this week to set up the stage where local and Okinawan dancers and musicians will perform, cultural booths, a country store and food booths for treats such as andagi and Okinawan soba.
Some say that moving the event indoors will change the festival atmosphere and require making it a smaller event in a smaller space, but others, including some seniors, prefer the cooler, more controlled environment.
Watabu said people are used to the outdoors, so it will be up to the planners to make the festival work for everyone. The reason the festival had been held during the height of hurricane season was that it requires a three-day weekend, which allows for an extra day to break down the tents and other structures.
For the past three decades the festival has been held at Kapiolani Park, McCoy Pavilion and Thomas Square.
Although many who attend are of Okinawan ancestry, the festival draws those from the greater community to experience another culture, as well as visitors from Okinawa, the mainland and other countries.
The festival has been canceled just twice since it began: in 2016 due to a hurricane threat and during the 100th anniversary of the immigration of Okinawans to Hawaii.
The issei, or first-generation immigrants, are nearly all gone, and the ties that bind most of the HUOA clubs are the ancestral villages and towns of those original immigrants who came to Hawaii beginning in 1900.
(Okinawa ranks among the top five prefectures with the most immigrants to Hawaii, according to the Center for Okinawan Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.)
“A lot of people know they’re Okinawan, but they don’t know anything else,” Watabu said.
He said the Okinawan Prefecture Library has joined with the Okinawan Genealogical Society of Hawaii to try to track down heritage and lineage of individuals who are interested in learning about their roots. Those interested are urged to go to okinawanfestival.com to fill out a form before going to the festival.
Some clubs are seeing membership dwindling and are looking for ways to drum up interest, including a student exchange program and dance and music classes.
