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World’s Largest Ukulele Festival, world record in Waikiki, Hawaii

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World’s Largest Ukulele Festival, world record in Waikiki, Hawaii


Waikiki, Hawaii, United States–Held every July at Kapiolani Park just outside Waikiki, Hawaii, United States, the
Ukulele Festival Hawaii was founded in 1971 by
Roy Sakuma with the support of the
Waikiki Department of Parks; it attracts enthusiasts from as far away as Italy and Thailand and sets the world record for being the
World’s Largest Ukulele Festival, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

“The ukulele is Hawaii’s best-loved musical instrument, so it makes sense that Ukulele Festival Hawaii is the world’s largest, attracting enthusiasts from as far away as Italy and Thailand,” the
Hawaiian Airlines says.

“Held every July at Kapiolani Park just outside Waikiki, the event includes free giveaways, quick mini-lessons, manufacturers’ exhibits and, of course: nonstop performances.

“Jack Johnson, Jake Shimabukuro and Raiatea Helm have all graced the stage. But they may have a tough time out-strumming the 700+ school-age ukulele students who eagerly show off their skills.”

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“Roy and Kathy Sakuma established Ukulele Festival Hawaii to continue their life’s work of preserving interest in the ukulele and spreading the joy of the ukulele,” the
official website says.



“It’s roots go back to 1971 when Roy Sakuma was a groundskeeper at Kapiolani Park with bigger dreams. He envisioned a free concert in the park to showcase and celebrate the joy and virtuosity of the ukulele. It was the world’s first and original ukulele festival. Today, Hawaii’s annual Ukulele Festival is the largest international ukulele festival of its kind in the world..

“Ukulele Festival Hawaii produces, promotes and arranges ukulele festivals free to the public, encourages interest in Hawaii’s arts and culture through education and scholarships, and promotes local and international interest in the ukulele as an instrument of virtuoso quality.”

“The Annual Ukulele Festival was held each July in Hawaii from 1971 to 2022. It was founded in 1971 by Roy Sakuma with the support of the Waikiki Department of Parks. The event drew large crowds to listen to free concerts by both amateur and top ukulele musicians.

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“In 1970, Roy Sakuma was working as a groundskeeper for the Waikiki Department of Parks. At lunch one day, Sakuma and his colleagues envisioned an ukulele concert. With the support of his supervisor, Sakuma worked with the department and the Hawaii International Ukulele Club to put together the first festival at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand in Waikiki in 1971.

“Ukulele Festival Hawaii is a non-profit charitable organization established in 2004 by Roy and Kathy Sakuma. The organization’s mission is to bring laughter, love and hope to children and adults throughout Hawaii and the world through the music of the ukulele. Ukulele Festival Hawaii produces, promotes and arranges ukulele festivals free to the public, encourages interest in Hawaii’s arts and culture through education and scholarships, and promotes local and international interest in the ukulele as an instrument of virtuoso quality. The Ukulele Festival, the first and original ‘ukulele festival begun in 1971, is held every July in Kapiolani Park, O‘ahu.”   (Wikipedia)

“The Ukulele Festival Hawaii is a much-anticipated annual event that celebrates the rich cultural heritage and the enchanting sound of the ukulele. This music festival, held in the beautiful islands of Hawaii, brings together ukulele enthusiasts from all around the world. From renowned ukulele players to up-and-coming talents, this festival showcases the versatility and the vibrant spirit of this small but mighty instrument,” the
Facts.net says.

“The Ukulele Festival Hawaii offers a unique experience where attendees can immerse themselves in the soothing melodies and infectious rhythms of the ukulele. Beyond the lively performances, the festival also provides an opportunity for all ages to participate in workshops, jam sessions, and even learn how to play the ukulele from the masters themselves. With its breathtaking location, distinctive atmosphere, and a lineup of exceptional artists, the Ukulele Festival Hawaii has become a cherished tradition that captures the hearts of both locals and visitors alike.

“The festival is dedicated to celebrating the ukulele and promoting its unique cultural significance in Hawaii. It brings together musicians, enthusiasts, and fans from all over the globe to enjoy the enchanting sounds of this iconic instrument.”

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“The ukulele, a small four-stringed instrument, has become synonymous with the spirit of aloha and the laid-back lifestyle of the islands. The Hawaii Ukulele Festival, an annual celebration of the instrument’s history, culture, and enchanting melodies is a beloved annual event that brings together ukulele enthusiasts from all over the world,” the
Honolulu Vibes says.

“Held in Honolulu, Hawaii, the festival features a wide variety of performances, workshops, and educational opportunities but you don’t need to be a player to enjoy the festival. It’s a great opportunity to spread a blanket in the shade and just enjoy some fantastic music in the park.

“Over the years, the festival gained momentum, drawing ukulele enthusiasts, performers, and tourists from around the world. The festival provided a platform for both established musicians and upcoming talents to share their love for the instrument, further contributing to the ukulele’s global appeal. The festival is now the largest international ukulele festival of its kind bringing people together in Kapiolani Park to celebrate the ukulele.”

“When one thinks of Hawaiian music, they likely start hearing ukulele music in their head. After all, the ukulele originated in the 19th century as a Hawaiian adaptation of the Portuguese machete, a small guitar-like instrument introduced to the islands by immigrants. In celebration of Hawaii’s favorite instrument, the annual Ukulele Festival is one of our favorite summer traditions,” the
Only In Your State says.

“There’s truly no better way to spend a summer day than soaking up the sunshine or basking in the shade of the park’s ironwood and monkeypod trees while listening to upbeat, infectious ukulele music performed by professionals and keiki alike.

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“Guest artists from around the world, including ukulele virtuosos, internationally-known musicians, and local celebrities…as well as a ukulele orchestra of more than 800 students, mostly children, will take the stage during this dreamy one-day festival.”

“Held at Kapiʻolani Park Bandstand in Waikīkī, this now cherished Hawaiʻi summer tradition has become the largest ʻukulele festival of its kind in the entire world, attracting crowds numbering in the thousands to its grassy lawns in order to enjoy musical entertainment from local ʻukulele masters as well as guest artists from across the globe,” the
Hawaii.com says.

“A special highlight each year is the ʻukulele orchestra, which consists of more than 800 student participants, the majority of which are keiki — a testament of the success of Roy’s dream to foster appreciation and excitement about the ʻukulele within the next generation.

“Family friendly and loads of fun, this festival is so much more than just a free outdoor concert, it’s truly a chance to commune with one another, brought together by the beauty of the music of the ʻukulele amid the gorgeous backdrop of Oʻahu’s iconic Diamond Head. So come on and bring your best smile and listening ears — heck, even bring your own ʻukulele to jam on the lawn, too — we’ll see you there!”

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Hawaii

Hawaii Is Looking For Its Next Supreme Court Justice

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Hawaii Is Looking For Its Next Supreme Court Justice


The Judicial Selection Commission is seeking applicants to succeed Mark Recktenwald, who must retire next year when he turns 70.

Gov. Josh Green is likely to appoint a new Hawaii Supreme Court chief justice next year, his third pick for the five-member court.

On Friday the Judicial Selection Commission posted a vacancy for the position, currently held by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald. By law, judges and justice in Hawaii are mandated to retire at age 70, an age Recktenwald will reach in 2025.

Applicants must be residents and citizens of Hawaii and licensed to practice law here for not less than 10 years preceding their nomination.

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Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald with then newly confirmed Associate Justices Vlad Devens and Lisa Ginoza, Nov, 21, 2023. (Courtesy Hawaii Judiciary)

The term of office of the CJ, as the position is known in shorthand, is 10 years. The annual salary is $248,124.

The Judicial Selection Commission will publish the list of all applicants to its website, and the public will be invited to provide comments. The commission will then forward not less than four names and not more than six names to the governor for his consideration.

A justice’s nomination is then subject to confirmation by the state Senate.

A year ago at this time the Senate confirmed Lisa Ginoza and Vlad Devens to serve on the court.

Recktenwald was named CJ in 2010, after Gov. Linda Lingle’s nomination of Appeals Court Judge Katherine Leonard was rejected by the Senate for lacking leadership and management experience.



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Hannah Kobayashi’s last known movements as her family takes the search into their own hands

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Hannah Kobayashi’s last known movements as her family takes the search into their own hands


The search for missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi continued on Friday as her distraught family scoured Los Angeles for clues that could lead to her being found. 

Kobayashi, 30, vanished after she missed a connecting flight between her home in Maui and New York where she was due to visit an aunt.

The missing woman landed in Los Angeles and was seen leaving LAX Airport and heading downtown on November 8. 

Her family say they received cryptic messages from her before she stopped contacting them altogether – behavior they describe as highly unusual. 

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The family are frustrated with the pace of the official police investigation. 

They say the LAPD didn’t contact them for 10 days after they initially reported her missing, and that they are the ones having to drive the search. 

Their desperation has driven them to Hollywood mediums and internet web sleuth groups. 

Last night, the family passed out flyers at a L.A. Lakers Game. 

 

November 8

 Now, Hannah’s sister Sydni is sharing a list of every sighting they have on record. 

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Kobayashi landed at LAX airport at 9:53pm and was seen on airport surveillance footage disembarking the aircraft.

She was due to take a connecting flight at 11pm, however she never made it.

The family of missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi, 30, have slammed the police for failing to find her and revealed they have turned to psychics for help

Missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi’s sister has shared details of every last known sighting as her family continue their agonizing search

She called her aunt Geordan Montalvo to explain she had missed the connection and promised to meet her in New York. 

She is then believed to have stayed the night at the airport before being spotted at various locations across LA.

November 9

Kobayashi was spotted at The Grove shopping mall between midday and 3pm.

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She spent a considerable amount of time at Taschen Books, where she stopped to charge her phone.

At 2:43 she snapped a picture and sent it to her aunt, before returning to the airport where she is believed to have spent the night.

From there, she once again called Montalvo to tell her she was still trying to get to New York.

November 10

On Sunday, two days after she landed, Kobayashi went back to The Grove.

She appeared in the background of a video outside a Nike event featuring LeBron James at 3:30pm

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Kobayashi also shared a post on her Instagram from the event with an eye emoji as the caption.

She was next spotted talking to a ticketing agent at LAX at around 5pm.

Kobayashi, 30, vanished during a layover in Los Angeles while traveling from her home in Maui to New York and was spotted getting off her flight at LAX

Kobayashi, 30, vanished during a layover in Los Angeles while traveling from her home in Maui to New York and was spotted getting off her flight at LAX 

In a YouTube video, Hannah was seen in the background at an event in The Grove bookstore for Lakers player Lebron James

In a YouTube video, Hannah was seen in the background at an event in The Grove bookstore for Lakers player Lebron James

Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time

Her final post was shared on November 11. It is understood she was attending an event in Los Angeles at the time

A missing-persons report was filed by her family the same day amid what they described as uncharacteristic correspondence from Kobayashi.

One of the messages reportedly said: ‘Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f**k since Friday.’

Kobayashi’s mother, Brandi Yee, also reported sending her a text message asking if she made it to New York.

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She responded simply: ‘Not yet.’ Another early-morning text mentioned how she was in the midst of a ‘spiritual awakening.’

On a missing-persons poster sent out immediately after, police wrote: ‘Prior to going missing, [Kobayashi] sent a message on November 10, mentioning feeling scared, and that someone might be trying to steal her money and identity. She hasn’t been hard from since.’

November 11

The next day, Kobayashi was spotted boarding an LAX Metro C line at Aviation/Century Station.

She got on board at 9:02pm, before transferring to a different train at the Rosa Parks Station.

Sydni said that it has been confirmed her sister was accompanied by someone for the duration of the journey.

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Kobayashi made several trips to The Grove shopping mall, including to this book store the say after she landed

Kobayashi made several trips to The Grove shopping mall, including to this book store the say after she landed

The missing woman's family have taken matters into their own hands and have been handing out flyers in the area where Kobayashi was last seen

The missing woman’s family have taken matters into their own hands and have been handing out flyers in the area where Kobayashi was last seen

Kobayashi was finally seen leaving the Metro Pico Station with the unidentified person at 10:03pm.

Latest update

As of Thursday, the LAPD was yet to declare that Kobayashi has been abducted.

The investigation is still being treated as a missing-persons case, a spokesperson confirmed. 

DailyMail.com revealed yesterday that detectives waited ten days before contacting the family for an interview. 

Sydni also slammed the lack of action and revealed her relatives were appealing to psychic mediums for help. 

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In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, her aunt Larie Pidgeon said they are now fearing the worst.

‘Our mind is now going to, you know, abduction and, I hate to say the word, but, you know, trafficked,’ she said.

They  held a rally before the Lakers game Thursday afternoon, just a block from the station where Kobayashi was last seen

They  held a rally before the Lakers game Thursday afternoon, just a block from the station where Kobayashi was last seen

Kobayashi was last seen in the company of an unidentified person but has not been declared as abducted by police

Kobayashi was last seen in the company of an unidentified person but has not been declared as abducted by police

‘We’re doing the best that we can, but the family at this point is having to come to the reality that those things could be a possibility.’

The LAPD, meanwhile, is still spearheading the probe, but is now being aided by the FBI, field office agents in the city told KHON Honolulu Wednesday.

Statements given to the station by Pidgeon appeared to indicate Kobayashi is still with the person in the footage, whom has yet to be physically described.

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‘She’s not alone, she’s with an unidentified person,’ said Pidgeon. ‘And she also got off and at a, at a station that is,’ she continued, before trailing off.

‘It’s not good and it terrified us, it brought her father to tears,’ she concluded.

She and others attended held a rally to pass out fliers before the Lakers game Thursday afternoon, just a block from the station where Kobayashi was last seen. 

Prior to her disappearance, a friend of Kobayashi’s said she received bizarre messages talking about being scammed.

‘I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved,’ the messages read.

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They were seen at Metro Pico Station on November 11, before Kobayashi's phone was switched off

They were seen at Metro Pico Station on November 11, before Kobayashi’s phone was switched off

Kobayashi, a photographer, is a resident of Haiku in Maui. She had been on her way to New York to photograph a DJ when she suddenly vanished

Kobayashi, a photographer, is a resident of Haiku in Maui. She had been on her way to New York to photograph a DJ when she suddenly vanished

The family also noted that the young artist’s phone has been off since November 11.

‘She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn’t come back home or something. It was just really weird texts,’ Sydni said.

She added that the messages ‘did not sound like her’ and wonders if it was Hannah who sent them.

Kobayashi was on the same flight as her ex-boyfriend as the two had booked the trip before breaking up.

However, they did not sit together during the journey and he has since been aiding police with the search. 

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Family of Hawaii photographer Hannah Kobayashi, who vanished on ‘bucket list’ NYC trip, didn’t hear from detectives for 10 days

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Family of Hawaii photographer Hannah Kobayashi, who vanished on ‘bucket list’ NYC trip, didn’t hear from detectives for 10 days


The family of Hannah Kobayashi — the Hawaiian photographer who vanished while heading on a “bucket list” vacation to New York — say they did not hear from detectives for 10 days, and only after holding a rally demanding action.

Kobayashi missed a connecting flight to New York and was left stranded in Los Angeles after leaving the confines of LAX on Nov. 8, with her family last hearing from her three days later when she sent a series of alarming text messages.

The 30-year-old’s family filed a missing persons report the next day — but say they hadn’t heard anything from officials until they held a rally in the streets of LA on Thursday.

Hannah Kobayashi has been missing since flying from Hawaii to Los Angeles on Nov. 8, 2024. Facebook

“As of today the police have reached out to family members who last spoke with Hannah,” Kobayashi’s aunt Larie Pidgeon told the Daily Mail during the gathering. “We want them to take it a bit more seriously.

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“We think they realize we’re not going away and we’re going to be really loud. We’re going to do something until they do something,” she added. “I think now they are beginning the process of what we began six days ago.”

The Thursday rally was held in downtown LA, a block from Kobayashi’s last known location, the outlet reported.

Pidgeon said the family wasn’t giving up their search for Kobayashi.

Her father shared the same sentiment after his daughter went on a trip that was a “bucket list dream that became reality.”

“We will do everything we can until we have found her,” Ryan Kobayashi told the outlet. “We just need to get the word out there about her.”

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Volunteers put up missing person flyers for Kobayashi in Los Angeles on Nov. 21, 2024. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Volunteers hand out the flyers near Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

“She’s a wonderful person who brings joy to so many people,” he added

Kobayashi, of Haiku, flew from Maui to Los Angeles on Nov. 8, and was meant to make a connecting flight to New York, where she would be staying with another aunt.

Surveillance footage shows her arriving in LA, but she missed her connecting flight 42 minutes later.

After missing her flight, Kobyashi sent odd texts to her family and friends before she vanished, including messaging a friend that she “got tricked into pretty much giving away all my funds.”

A missing person poster for Kobayashi shared by family members on Facebook. Facebook / Sydni Kobayashi

In another message, she claimed she was supposedly fooled by “someone I thought I loved.”

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“Deep Hackers wiped my identity, stole all of my funds, & have had me on a mind f–k since Friday,” another message read.

Family previously said the texts supposedly from Kobayashi are not like her.

Kobayashi was seen arriving at LAX on Nov. 8, 2024. Missing People In America/Facebook

Other footage showed Kobayashi at the Grove shopping center in the Fairfax District of LA on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, as well as video of her returning to LAX, but not getting on a flight on Nov. 11 before she was seen near the metro station, USA Today reported.

Her phone has been off since Nov. 11, the family previously said.

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