Ribucan said seven of the participating groups will be bringing products to sell, a business expo is planned, and visiting delegations will tour farms, high-tech operations and Maui Community College.

More than 260 people from the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Peru, Rapa Nui and Saipan in the Northern Marianas will attend the festival at their own expense. The visitors include two-dozen mayors and consulates, and 32 sixth-graders from the Native Taiwanese Aboriginal Cultural Festival Dancing Program in Pingtung, Taiwan, who will perform while they are here.

Even the Czechs are coming. Ribucan said the Eastern European republic wasn't invited since it doesn't have a sister-city relationship with the county, but officials at the Czech Consulate in Los Angeles heard about the festival while planning a trip to Hawai'i and asked to participate.

Maui County has been active in Sister Cities International for 40 years and has formal sister-city relationships with 18 cities in Asia and the Pacific, Europe and South America. Mayor Alan Arakawa recently transmitted resolutions to the Maui County Council to formalize relationships with Cabugao and Sarrat in the Philippines, as well as Saipan. The county is exploring sister-city bonds with Jeju Island in South Korea, Fukuyama City in Japan, and Fugu Island in the Philippines.

Four public events are planned during the Maui Sister Cities Festival: a welcome reception Wednesday on the lawn outside the Kalana O Maui building in Wailuku, a dinner reception on Thursday, and a festival and concert Saturday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

The Saturday festival will feature food, entertainment, demonstrations, cultural and business booths, and children's activities. Uluwehi Guerrero will headline the concert, "A Celebration of Peace in the World," that evening, with additional performances by cast members of the 'Ulalena stage show in Lahaina and the Taiwanese students, taiko drummers from Hachijo Island in Japan, and the Samiweng Singers and the Bac-Bacarra Singers, both from the Philippines.

Guerrero, a Na Hoku Hanohano award winner, said he is excited to be participating in the festival concert, since his grandparents came to Hawai'i from Bacarra in the Philippines, which is one of Maui's sister cities. "It will be a privilege to visit with representatives from this country and others who shape our community. We are all one in this world, and the message we must share with our 'ohana and our children is one of world peace," he said.

Festival sponsors include the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, which provided $15,000; the Maui Visitors Bureau, which contributed $14,500; Aston Resort/Quest Hawai'i; the Maui Arts & Cultural Center; the Centennial Hui; and Connec LLC.