2025 HSGA Festival Information
Our Waikiki Festival ‘25 is being planned in conjunction with Waikiki Steel Guitar Week, which is a week-long music program organized by the Hawaiian Institute for Music Education and Learning Enrichment (HIMELE). The larger event is scheduled for the week of July 7 to July 12, 2025, and is held at the Royal Hawaiian Center Royal Grove Stage in the center of Waikiki. HSGA members from Japan have already been participating in the event for the past two years. HSGA member performances will be added to the schedule on Thursday afternoon, July 10, and if needed, on Wednesday afternoon, July 9, 2025. The week-long event culminates on Saturday, July 12 with a day-long program featuring top Hawaiian steel players, a definite must see, must hear.
2025 HSGA Festival Schedule
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
12:00 Noon – 1:00 pm.
1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
8:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Check-In / Registration
Welcome / Annual Member Meeting
Member Performances
Alan Akaka
No Host Dinner
Workshop
Kanikapila / Jam Session
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
9:30 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
12:00 Noon – 1:30 pm.
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
8:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Member Performances
No Host Lunch
Member Performances
Alan Akaka
No Host Dinner
Workshop
Kanikapila / Jam Session
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
9:30 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
12:00 Noon – 1:00 pm.
1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Member Performances
No Host Lunch
Saturday Super-Show
Social / Happy Hour (Trader Vic’s Restaurant)
Luau Dinner & Show (Trader Vic’s Restaurant, featuring The Alcatraz Islanders, with Guest Performance by Alan Akaka)
2025 HSGA Festival Registration
REGISTERING IS A TWO-STEP PROCESS:
STEP 1
RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE HILTON GARDEN INN-EMERYVILLE, CA
The hotel of choice for this event is the Hilton Garden Inn-Emeryville, California. The hotel has set aside a block of suites for our Festival guests at the rate of $179 per night. (daily breakfast buffet is included for hotel guests). Please reserve no later than September 7, 2024.
Hotel reservations may be made online using the following link:
https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/sfobbgi-hsga-d2f84ed3-002e-4e7d-9823-b2fabd236671/
or call (510) 658-9300 and select the option for the front desk and request your reservation. Please mention the event dates (for reservation purposes, September 25 through September 29) and the group code “HSGA”. If the front desk is busy and transfers you to the Central Reservations Line, mention that you want to book at the Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge in Emeryville, as well as the HSGA group code.
2024 HSGA Festival
More Details
RESERVATIONS MAY BE MADE
BY TELEPHONE OR EMAIL.
Email: res2@cghotelgroup.com
Phone: 408-522-4927 Mon to Fri (9am-4 pm) Only
Please reference the following information:
Group name: Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival Group
Group code: 1084J8
TICKET PRICES FOR THE FESTIVAL
ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Members:
• $150 for 3 day pass (not including Saturday Luau Dinner & Show )
• $60 per day (Thursday / Friday)
• $30 Saturday only
• $100 per person Saturday Night Luau Dinner & Show
(at nearby Trader Vic’s Restaurant)
Non Members:
• $180 for a 3 day pass (not including Saturday Luau Dinner & Show)
• $70 per day (Thursday / Friday)
• $40 Saturday only
• $110 per person Saturday Night Luau Dinner & Show
Students:
• $10 per day (not including Saturday Night Luau Dinner & Show)
TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED ONLINE THROUGH ZEFFY.COM AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/79008d56-4368-48ab-8870-f4e3bc984473
(Zeffy is a free service for non-profit organizations, but they do request a donation from the ticket buyer.)
TICKETS MAY ALSO BE PURCHASED BY CHECK, PAYABLE TO THE HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION.
Mail to:
HSGA 2024 Festival
c/o: Roberto Alaniz
2145 Tiffany Walk
Manteca, CA 945336-9555
The festival will feature a door prize raffle for those who attend. If you have any fun and interesting small items that you would like to donate for this raffle, please contact me (roberto.alaniz@comcast.net mailto:roberto.alaniz@comcast.net)
HSGA Virtual
Festivals
When the pandemic made live festivals impossible we decided to produce virtual festivals. This gave both musicians and interested viewers the opportunity to continue to see and hear Hawaiian steel guitar music. We have had six to date, and we plan to produce two virtual festivals a year as well as our live yearly festival.
Sixth Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
January 13-14, 2024
Fifth Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
August 5, 2023
Fourth Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
August 13, 2022
Third Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
July 9 & 10, 2022
Second Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
October 8 & 9, 2021
First Virtual Steel Guitar Festival
January 23 & 24, 2021
Other Hawaiian
Steel Guitar
Festivals
The 2024 Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival at Windward Mall will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at Kāne‘ohe’s Windward Mall. This festival begins at 11:00 A.M. and will feature favorite steel guitar masters from O‘ahu singing and playing Hawai‘i’s favorite Hawaiian music.
This festival will be presented free to the public by Hawaii Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE) and the Windward Mall. Funding for the festival and livestream broadcast will be provided by the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts (SFCA), through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawai‘i or grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Additional funding will be provided by the Laurence H. Dorcy Hawaiian Foundation. Equipment provided to NextGEn steel guitarists by John Pearse Strings.
HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR FESTIVAL AT WINWARD MALL SATRUDAY, JUNE 8TH, 2024