KANE'OHE — Organizers hope that a months-long celebration later this year will help focus attention on the long history of this Windward town and raise a new sense of community spirit in coming years.

The "Celebrate Kane'ohe" festival aims to bring together community groups, businesses and institutions in the area on a scale never seen before, said Mahealani Cypher, a member of the Ko'olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, one of the prime organizers of the event.

Unlike other neighborhoods that have organized annual one-day events such as the "I Love Kailua" and "I Love Lihiha" festivals to call attention to their own heritage, organizers in Kane'ohe say they want their celebration to be one that starts in May and lasts through the end of the year, covering dozens of diverse events.

"It's something that we might only do once every 10 years," Cypher said.

Cypher said she first dreamed of the Kane'ohe celebration more than 10 years ago, but it didn't start shaping up until the civic club decided it wanted to do something special this year to mark its 70th anniversary.

"The idea has kept growing from there," she said.

Among the activities being planned are historical exhibits, school poster contests, concerts, canoe races, tours of historic sites and a competition among composers to come up with an original song about Kane'ohe.

"There's such a long, common heritage in this area, but many of the people who live here don't know much about it," Cypher said. "The idea is to bring everybody together in different ways."

Organizers want to partner their new ideas with existing Kane'ohe traditions like Windward Community College's annual ho'olaule'a and the business association's Christmas parade to create a calendar of "Celebrate Kane'ohe" events. The calendar is expected to be finalized by mid-April, and a day-long kickoff event is being planned for May 12 at Windward Mall, which sometimes functions as a town center.

The group is seeking others to join in the celebration.

"If you already have an event planned, all we are asking is that you dedicate this event to honoring our community of Kane'ohe," Cypher said.

A number of Windward groups have signed up to support the project, which also has received seed money through the Hawai'i Tourism Authority's County Product Enrichment program.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.