Organizers of the first International Waikiki Hula Conference — set for next month — say registration for the event has gotten off to a slow start, so they are extending the registration deadline until Monday.

About 500 participants have signed up for the first-time event at the Hawai'i Convention Center being sponsored by the Waikiki Improvement Association. Association president Rick Egged said the organization had expected up to 1,000 might sign up to learn about hula through workshops, seminars and even a chance to perform at a sponsored price.

Since the association — expert at Waikiki promotion but not dance — was a new name in the hula world, Egged said it took time to spread the word, especially out of state.

"We just got too late of a start for our international marketing," Egged said. Others apparently were skeptical of how a three-day event with so many names of the hula world could be offered at the relatively low admission price of $300.

Egged said the low price is a product of his association and others sponsoring the event.

"It seemed too good to be true," he said.

The conference will include three days of hula workshops, lectures and special presentations, with related workshops on lei-making, implement-making, chant and Hawaiian language. It will feature more than 30 of Hawai'i's noted kumu hula and cultural practitioners, and is open to all — from beginners to expert hula practitioners.

Egged said even the 500 turnout is good, but he's hopeful that more people will register with a deadline extended by a few weeks. And they may be attracted by a partnership with the Hula Preservation Society and a chance to learn from some legends of hula, including hula masters Auntie Nona Beamer, Uncle George Na'ope and Auntie Joan Lindsey, each of whom has been involved with hula for more than 70 years.

They will tell of their own hula training and experiences, offer insights into our own hula practice, and share their opinions about the global hula community and the hula of today.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to pick up more local folks," Egged said.

Event producer Marnie Pu'uwaialoha Weeks said the society's involvement has helped to attract at least 100 residents to the conference and may bring in others. "They might be thinking that it's just for tourists, and it's not," she said.

Egged said more than 300 people have signed up from Japan, where hula has grown immensely popular over the last two decades. Others will come from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and Germany, as well as across the Mainland U.S.

Weeks said often hula halau from off-island need to raise money to travel and may not have had enough time with only a few months' notice. The conference was announced in April.

"Even the average traveler sometimes needs a year to plan," Weeks said.

Weeks said people can sign up on the Web and choose their classes at the same time.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.