Honolulu Festival returns with Japan in the spotlight
The Honolulu Festival returns to Oahu next weekend after a three-year pandemic-related hiatus, creating an opportunity to help normalize travel to Hawaii again for Japanese visitors whose return has lagged travelers’ from other destinations.
The festival, now in its 27th year, showcases the cultures of the Pacific Rim and always has been popular with visitors from Japan, who appreciate that the festival’s major significance is its ability to perpetuate the strong cultural ties between the Pacific Rim and Hawaii. Many locals are expected to attend the festival, which has a theme this year, “Connect With Aloha, Forward to the New Future,” that reflects the current stage of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the importance of forging connections, often through travel.
