Merrie Monarch Festival 2019 (Hilo: price, shop, tickets)

[JoDan]

I'll be on the BI next April and interested in obtaining information about Merrie Monarch 2019. I've looked at the official website and it doesn't have dates for 2019, but on some "unofficial" websites they list dates as April 21 -29.

Can any locals help with ia clarification?

Are tickets difficult to obtain?

[hotzcatz]

Official tickets from the ticketing folks are almost impossible to obtain. You have to send in your request for tickets postmarked on a certain date - not before - and they sell out in one morning.

However, you can usually get tickets from someone in line. They don't scalp the tickets, either, generally they're resold at the same price as they cost. But, you may not be able to find seats together or you may not be able to find seats at all.

However, even if you don't get official tickets, the whole town of Hilo goes hula crazy for a whole week and there's several free hula shows during the week. You can still get a heavy dose of hula and see the parade and go to the craft shows, free hula shows, etc.

FWIW, it's almost nicer to see it on TV, especially if you can see it on a big TV. In person, those concrete bleacher seats are VERY cold and VERY hard. If you get seats in the concrete bleacher section, take a cushion. In person, you don't get the commentary like you do on the TV. However, you can't small the flowers or get the vibes from the crowd on the TV so it's good either way.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

JoDan, look at the schedule for the 2018 Merrie Monarch. There's a free Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair that runs for several days with local crafts and artists selling their wares. And on Wednesday night there is a Ho`ike with free performances of hula and folk dances. We get a group together and go early to stand in line for the Ho`ike. We set up chairs and take turns shopping the crafts fair. It's a really long day but a lot of fun!

[JoDan]

Thanks! Very helpful info. Looking forward to being back on the BI!!