Over the next two decades crowds swelled to 75,000 at crater events. Among the notables performing in various incarnations in the 1970s: Yvonne Elliman, Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Steve Miller, Linda Ronstadt, Boz Scaggs, and Buddy Miles, intermixed with resident jazz, classic, hula and other performing artists.

It's all back April 19 to 23, 2006, though Ron Gibson, chief executive officer of the Diamond Head Crater Festival & Conference, said the return of what started as the Sunshine Festival will be on a much smaller scale for the first year — only about 7,500 tickets will be sold. The crater music event will be held from sunrise to sunset on April 22, 2006, surrounded by a network of related events throughout O'ahu and at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului.

"We want to maintain the boutique size, at least in the first year, so that it will be an 'exclusive' event, with tickets hard to come by," said Gibson. "Yet we want to offer opening night galas, special parties, food and beverages, arts and crafts — the kind of a celebration you expect at the Cannes Film Festival."

The goal: Put O'ahu on the map for global musicians and music.

The state and city endorse the revival; the tourism industry is poised to capitalize on the event as a major "must-do" cultural excursion for prospective visitors.

"Music is big business, and Hawai'i can be in the forefront of an international audience through not only concerts, but also roundtable discussions, workshops, exhibits, a music marketplace and a sharing of information," Gibson said. "This also gives Hawai'i the opportunity to showcase great venues and artists. In short, we want this to be a 'must attend' event for those in the global music industry and a wonderful attraction for Hawai'i music lovers."

The Sunshine Festival concerts inside Diamond Head spanned jazz, Hawaiian, Latin music and rock. Advertiser library photo • Jan. 3, 1972

"A lot of people know we've been planning the festival, and now we're driving the stake in the ground," Gibson said. He has homes in Waikiki and in Haiku Gardens in Kane'ohe as well as in San Ramon Valley, Calif. He has the needed permits from the state Board of Land and Natural Resources and has completed numerous huddles with police, fire, and military officials, as well as neighborhood board chairmen, to win their support.

In its inaugural voyage next year, Gibson said he deliberately planned to scale down the operations in part to lessen the burden on the site and the residents in neighboring communities of Kahala, Diamond Head, Kapahulu and Kaimuki. He declined to reveal an operating budget but said "this will be a seven-figure event."

"We will be shuttling folks by buses into the crater, and by restricting the size of the audience, it's very doable for us," he said. "The problems of the past were mostly outside the crater and largely had to do with traffic."

The exclusivity is generating a buzz in the entertainment industry. And coming on the heels of the first-ever Grammy Award for Hawaiian Music, Gibson sees the festival as a natural complement to the recording industry, the one helping the other.

Judy Drosd, chief officer for arts, film and entertainment for the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, said the global implications suit "DBEDT's goal ... to increase the economic viability of companies and nonprofit organizations that comprise Hawai'i's creative economy.

"One of the ways we believe we can do this is by focusing greater international spotlight and attention on our extraordinarily talented local performing artists. This festival and conference is poised to become a beacon that will attract international music industry executives to conduct their business here and at the same time stimulate economic activity for our artists."

Frank Haas, vice president of tourism marketing for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, said the festival will be a highlight of the Hawai'i Arts Season "which targets cultural tourism from around the globe and is building every year."

Gibson is negotiating with talent reps and managers to enhance a diversified, attractive roster of performers that will include local acts, even hula halau, to embrace the Hawaiian culture and give the festival its valuable sense of place. But he also intends to embrace an international community of arts, to stabilize a global appeal and reach a wider audience.

"It's all about how to compete in the new world," said Gibson. "By bringing in Asia to the forefront of the conference, you focus on the center of the world," he said. "Big things are happening now in India, China, Korea and Japan. So we want to make it an East-meets-West thing in music, but also blend technology with music."