Aloha Friday Picks: Experience Hawaiʻi with These Virtual Events
Listen to Hawaiian music, brush up on your ʻukulele or run a half-marathon this weekend, wherever you are.
Aloha Friday Picks is a weekly news blog that will run every Friday and features three things we recommend you do, try or experience over the weekend. Send us tips at media@hawaiimagazine.com.
You don’t have to leave your house this weekend to experience the Islands.
Join the ʻUkulele Festival Hawaiʻi
Starting April 11, the 51st annual ʻUkulele Festival Hawaiʻi—usually held at Kapiʻolani Park on Oʻahu—is going virtual. Throughout the month of April, the festival will be offering virtual mini-events, including a local showcase (9 a.m. to 2: 30 p.m. HST April 11) featuring some of the state’s most accomplished musicians (Kelly Boy Delima, Bryan Tolentino, Honoka Katayama and David Kamakahi).
Later in the month, there will be an ʻukulele workshop with instructors like Jake Shimabukuro and Roy Sakuma and a slew of performances.
The events are free so just visit the festival’s YouTube channel and log into your account to join a live chat.
Take in a Hawaiian Music Concert at Home
Award-winning and Grammy-nominated Hawaiian musician Henry Kapono, along with Blue Note Hawaiʻi, returns with his Artist 2 Artist jam session on Tuesday, April 13, with Oʻahu’s Mānoa DNA. The event, which costs $35, starts at 6 p.m. HST and streamed online. Kapono will kanikapila and talk story with the award-winning family band (watch them above). Visit here for more information.
Run a Half-Marathon
Organized by the Honolulu Marathon Association, the Hapalua is the largest half-marathon in Hawaiʻi. And this year it’s entirely virtual. Run or walk a 5K, 10K or complete the half-marathon wherever you are. (The event usually starts in Waikīkī Beach.) Complete and submit your race results anytime in April. You can even do the half-marathon over a couple of days! And you can still earn an official race shirt and finisher’s medal. Get rules and more information here.
