May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii

HONOLULU (CN) — Beneath clear blue skies and gentle trade winds, thousands converged on Kapiolani Park in Waikiki on Thursday to celebrate the 97th annual Lei Day, a distinctly Hawaiian tradition that bridges generations.

The lei — a handcrafted garland typically fashioned from flowers, leaves or shells — embodies the Hawaiian spirit of aloha and remains a cherished symbol of affection throughout the islands.

“May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told the crowd during opening ceremonies. “While lei had been crafted and given in Polynesian culture for thousands of years, the first Lei Day celebration was celebrated on May 1, 1927, with only a few people wearing lei in Downtown Honolulu.”

“This is one of our marquee events,” Nate Serota, spokesperson for the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation, said. “The Lei Day celebration is such a legacy offering that we have for not just our community, but for Hawaiian culture. It’s really not just a celebration of lei, but hula.”

This year’s theme, “Hoʻokahi ka ʻilau like ʻana,” translates to “Wield the paddles together” and is part of a four-year series of themes honoring the Hōkūle’a voyaging canoe.

“For the past year, and then the next two years, four years in total, we’ve adopted different proverbs from ‘Ōlelo No’eau,” Serota explained, referring to Native Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui’s collection of Hawaiian sayings. “It’s in honor of Hōkūle’a and her Mālama Honua voyage that wrapped up a few years ago.”

The heart of the celebration includes the renowned Lei Contest, where handcrafted lei are displayed and judged.

Jamie Adams Detweiler, who has been making lei since she was five years old and now serves as a judge, explained the criteria: “You look at technique, workmanship, wearability and the essence or the feeling that the lei gives.”

For Detweiler, lei making is generational. “My father is one of 10 siblings — and all of us know how to make leis. Some of us have continued on with lei making. Some others have not. But for us, it’s a source of cultural heritage and pride. We’re artisans, practitioners in the art of lei making.”

New to this year’s celebration was a special “Meet the Masters” demonstration, where three elite lei makers shared their techniques with attendees. Serota said it was an opportunity to learn about the sustainability of the lei making practice.

For many practitioners, lei making is not just a craft but a spiritual practice that embodies the Hawaiian concept of aloha.

“When you make a lei, you are putting part of yourself into that lei, part of your mana, part of your spirit,” Serota said. “And so when you receive it, you’re really receiving part of whoever made that lei.”

Louanna Kaio, a 69-year-old retired Parks and Recreation employee who began learning lei making at age eight, emphasized how the maker’s state of mind affects the final creation. “You got to make sure you’re not mad, you’re not just off with your wife, your boyfriend … it relaxes you, and if you have … you bring that in, your lei is not going to turn out nice,” Kaio said.

The celebration also featured the coronation of the 2025 Lei Court, with Queen Kuʻuleialoha Llanos and her princesses presiding over the festivities. The mayor personally congratulated the newly crowned queen, saying, “I don’t think we could have a more elegant Lei Court.”

The Royal Hawaiian Band kicked off the day’s performances at 9 a.m., followed by hula hālau from around the island and steel guitar displays continuing until 5 p.m.

Behind the festivities, however, some lei makers expressed concerns about the future availability of flowers. Merryl Iraha, a vendor from Kailua, highlighted the decline in local flower production.

“Throughout the whole island, even in Kailua and Waimanalo, there were so many flower farms. Not anymore, it’s very limited flowers,” Iraha said. She noted that many flowers are now sourced from Thailand, raising concerns about potential tariffsthat could dramatically increase prices.

Kaio offered a different perspective, encouraging more local cultivation: “Every yard should have one like that … your own plumeria tree, your own ti, your own tiare, your own ferns.”

As the celebration approaches its centennial in 2027, organizers are already planning how to make that milestone special. “Next year, we’re only a couple years away from the 100th Lei Day celebration, so you know more and more, we’re trying to see how we can make that Centennial marker an even more grand display of lei,” Serota said.

For many participants, the annual celebration serves as a crucial link in passing down Hawaiian cultural practices to future generations.

“Having a beautiful event like this that the city and county puts on is critical to perpetuating our culture and to educating the public and our visitors about lei making,” Detweiler said. “Events like this help to perpetuate it, and then every day making it and also passing it on to the next generation.”

The event continues tomorrow with a closing ceremony at The Royal Mausoleum Mauna ‘Ala and Kawaiāha’o Church. At that time, lei from the contest will be placed on the graves of Hawaii’s royal ali’i, while the lei court performs hula and oli, Hawaiian for prayers.

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