Merrie Monarch now taking ticket orders
By Wanda A. Adams
Assistant Features Editor
Planning on taking in the Merrie Monarch Hula Competition in person this year? Better get your ticket order over to Hilo right now. Not only is today the day the Merrie Monarch office begins accepting ticket orders, but there will be fewer seats available for the event, which takes place April 15 through 17 in the Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium in Hilo.
Advertiser library photo • April 29, 2003
Merrie Monarch assistant director Luana Kawelu said the festival lost about 200 seats this year because the fire department is requiring wider aisles between rows on the floor, where folding chairs are set up; the same number of seats will be available in the bleachers that line the stadium. The deadly fire in a Connecticut nightclub earlier this year raised awareness of the need for clear and wide exit aisles, she said.
There will be fewer seats available for this year's Merrie Monarch Hula Competition.
There are about 5,000 seats in the stadium when it is in Merrie Monarch configuration. However, seating space for competing halau, family of halau members, family of judges and VIPs leaves a scant 2,700 seats for the general public at this most prestigious of hula competitions.
The loss of seats also means that ticket prices have gone up slightly, but they're still a steal: $5 for the Thursday night Miss Aloha Hula competition; $10 for a Friday/Saturday package that includes the traditional and modern hula group competitions; or up to $25 for all three nights (depending on seating location). The Miss Aloha Hula competition is less well attended, so tickets are generally readily available.
Admission is free for the traditional ho'ike (hula performance) held the night before the hula festival starts, featuring the Kanaka'ole family's Halau 'O Kekuhi. This year, the guests on April 14 will include kumu hula Johnny Lum Ho's crowd-pleasing Halau Ka Ua Kani Lehua; Ho is sitting out the competition this year and will serve as one of the 2004 judges. Other guests will include a Maori chant-and-dance troupe that brought the house down last year and a halau from Japan.
Ticket orders are being filled on a first-come, first-served basis, starting today. To request a ticket application form, call the Merrie Monarch office, (808) 935-9168.
You need the form to request seat placement; only money orders or cashier's checks are accepted and you must include a stamped, self-addressed legal-size envelope in which to receive your ticket order. Orders are limited to two sets (combinations of tickets) per person.
