HONOLULU — The Celebrate Micronesia Festival 2023 will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bishop Museum. The event has been held since 2014.

What You Need To Know

  • The Celebrate Micronesia Festival 2023 will showcase traditional and contemporary art, dance, fashion, food, stories, poetry and music from Micronesia

  • The event is family-friendly, and everyone in the community is welcome to attend

  • Tickets for Hawaii residents and military members will be discounted to $5. Tickets for Bishop Museum members who are registered will be free

A diverse region in the Pacific Ocean, Micronesia includes the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Guåhan (Guam), Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Kiribati and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. 

The festival will showcase traditional and contemporary art, dance, fashion, food, stories, poetry and music from Micronesia. On the main stage, live performances will be held, featuring everything from Palauan chanting to Pohnpeian poetry. There will also be carving, lei-making and weaving demonstrations from several Micronesian communities. 

Cultural booths will represent different communities in Micronesia. Two groups with cultural booths — the Remathau Community of Hawaii and Marshallese Weaving Woode Jippel — will travel to the event from Hawaii Island with the support of the East-West Center. 

“This is a time for Micronesian people who live in Hawaii to share their cultural practices with others,” said Mary Hattori, director of the East-West Center's Pacific Islands Development Program that is cosponsoring the festival, in an email to Spectrum News Hawaii. 

The event is family-friendly, and everyone in the community is welcome to attend. 

“The festival is an important event which highlights and celebrates the wisdom, beauty, and strength of the peoples and cultures of the region of Micronesia. By facilitating this opportunity for Micronesians to share their cultures with the public, we hope to increase awareness and appreciation for the resilience and diversity of cultures and languages expressed through the arts, fashion, food, and stories of Micronesia,” said Hattori.

Tickets for Hawaii residents and military members will be discounted to $5. Tickets for Bishop Museum members who are registered will be free. Ticket prices for non-residents will remain between $20.95 and $28.95. Parking costs $5.  

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.