A look inside Hawaii's Merrie Monarch Festival, an energetic celebration of native art, dance, and music

• Merrie Monarch is an annual festival in Hilo, Hawaii.
• It celebrates Hawaiian traditions with craft fairs, parades, and hula competitions.
• This article is part of “Community in Focus,” a series highlighting Asian and Pacific Islander events.

As the sun set over the misty town of Hilo, Hawaii, on April 6, about 4,000 people stood up from their seats in the Edith Kanakaʻole stadium and joined hands.

They swayed in unison, their voices reverberating off the bleachers and walls to the tune of “Hawaii Aloha,” a song locals often sing to mark the end of a cultural celebration. This time, they were saying goodbye to Merrie Monarch, an annual weeklong festival for honoring native Hawaiian traditions such as hula and craft making.

When I was growing up in Hilo, attending Merrie Monarch was the highlight of my year. My grandmother would take me to hotels around Hilo, where my uncles would perform Hawaiian music and children would dance the hula, big smiles plastered on their faces. The hotels buzzed with excitement as artisans showcased their crafts, and the scent of traditional Hawaiian delicacies filled the air. At the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade, I was enchanted as horseback riders floated by wearing colorful leis and long pāʻū skirts.

The festival, which started on March 31 this year, is marked by a mass migration of Hawaiians to Hilo on the state’s Big Island, also called Hawaii.

These Hawaiians — largely hula dancers who have dedicated their lives to mastering the ancestral dance — overtake the small town of Hilo, bringing with them custom-made hula garments, intricate handmade goods, delectable eats, and goosebump-inducing song and dance.

“It truly is the finest time in Hawaii,” Dillon Ancheta, a Hawaiian-born journalist who has covered Merrie Monarch celebrations for the past five years, told Business Insider. “It feels like the entire state gets excited for Merrie Monarch, and the absolute best of our culture is on display.”

Take a look inside this year’s Merrie Monarch Festival.