Announcing the 2022 Waikiki Steel Guitar Week

November 11, 2021 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

A second festival has been added to the list of Hawaiian steel guitar festivals presented by HIMELE in 2022.

The Royal Hawaiian Center and HIMELE have announced that the Fourth Annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week will resume in 2022. The weeklong celebration of the Hawaiian steel guitar is scheduled for July 11-16, 2022, and will culminate in the 12^th annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival on Saturday, July 16.

The Waikīkī event joins the previously-announced 2022 Kaua‘i Steel Guitar Festival as the second in-person steel guitar festival planned for 2022. All in-person festivals were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual event has been paused since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Improved pandemic conditions and the relaxing of large gathering restrictions allowed a smaller event to be presented on November 6, 2021, as the 11^th annual Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival.

NextGen steel guitarist Tai Misailidis with Helene Woodward, Bobby Ingano, Alan Akaka, and Kaipo Asing at the
2021 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival. PC-Burt Johnson

The 2022 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week will be held immediately preceding the annual ‘Ukulele Festival Hawaii which will be presented on July 17, 2022.

The July festival will be a hybrid of past Waikīkī Steel Guitar Weeks and the 2021 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival.

Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week one-hour steel guitar presentations will be offered Monday through Friday evenings. Each will feature a different Hawaiian steel guitarist.

The Saturday Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival ho‘olaule‘a will be offered in two parts and follow the schedule developed for the 2021 festival. The morning and afternoon sessions will be separated by an intermission that allows the hottest part of the day to be avoided. The ho‘olaule‘a will also be livestreamed.

Details are still being worked out for a steel guitar exhibit and hands-on training opportunities on Saturday. At present there are no plans to include an open stage segment.

Integrating the Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival into Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week has been temporarily suspended. Planning for the event featuring steel guitarists from Japan has been placed on hold due to the pandemic and other planning challenges.

The Royal Hawaiian Center has underwritten and supported the Waikīkī Steel Guitar Festival since 2016 and expanded the event to the weeklong Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week the following year.

Additional information about the 2022 event will be posted on the event's Facebook page and the event website as it becomes available.