The event, which starts at 5 p.m., is sold out.

The festival's 14 queen contestants will perform taiko, deliver a prepared speech in evening gowns, and answer impromptu questions in authentic furisode kimono flown in from Japan especially for this event, a program of the Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce.

The evening will end with the crowning of a new queen and court, who will represent the festival, the HJJCC and the Japanese-American community in Hawai'i.

During their year-long reign, the court will travel to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to visit similar ethnic festivals, and to Japan in October to visit festival sponsors and sister chapters in Kobe, Kurashiki and Odawara.

For more information visit www.cbfhawaii.com.