The first king to travel around the world King David La'amea Kalākaua

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The first king to travel around the world King David La'amea Kalākaua

King David La'amea Kalākaua: The first king to travel around the world (Credit: Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 11+/Alamy)

By Arman – News Editor

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He had tea with the Queen, was blessed by the Pope and spread Hawaiian culture across the globe. More than a century later, a festival dubbed the "Olympics of hula" honours his legacy.

Silence engulfed the audience at Edith Kanaka'ole Stadium in Hilo, Hawai'i, as a group of hula dancers appeared on stage. They moved gracefully in unison, rhythmically depicting a scene of an ancient Hawaiian myth as they bellowed

mele (chants). The hula performance, which was part of the annual

Merrie Monarch Festival wasn't a mere spectacle; it was a powerful celebration of Hawaiian culture – and for years, it was banned.

The week-long Merrie Monarch Festival (which takes place 20-26 April 2025 and is celebrating its 62nd anniversary) has been called the "

Olympics of hula

" and perpetuates the sacred, centuries-old practice of dancing and chanting that preserves and portrays our native Hawaiian language, history, religion and culture. Every year, thousands of Hawaiians descend on the Big Island to attend the event, while thousands more watch live broadcasts of Hawai'i's 23 best

hālau

(hula groups) compete on TV. Yet, the festival is more than just a hula contest; its dance performances, arts and craft exhibitions, and a royal parade through downtown Hilo is considered the biggest display of Hawaiian culture in the world.

"It's the one week out of the year where we celebrate being Hawaiian," said Kū Kahakalau, a Hawaiian language and culture expert. "And it's all thanks to the undertakings of King Kalākaua."

Photo Resource Hawaii/Alamy

The Merrie Monarch festival is the biggest display of Hawaiian culture in the world, and an homage to the islands' last king (Credit: Photo Resource Hawaii/Alamy)

Fondly dubbed "The Merrie Monarch", King David La'amea Kalākaua was the last king of Hawai'i. He ruled the Kingdom of Hawai'i from 1874 until his death in 1891, but his ascension to the throne was nothing short of contentious. Shortly after the death of King Kamehameha IV, whose family had ruled the kingdom since 1795, Hawai'i's legislature decided to elect a native ali'i (noble chief) instead of the king's widow. The decision incited a full-blown riot. As the queen's supporters stormed the Honolulu courthouse, British and American sailors stationed at Honolulu harbour were called in to quell the fighting and Kalākaua took the oath of office the following day.

By the time of Kalākaua's reign, Native Hawaiian heritage was at great risk. Christian missionaries had begun arriving on the islands in 1820, introducing diseases that killed Native Hawaiians, converting islanders away from our traditional polytheistic religion and infiltrating the political system to suppress local culture and beliefs. One of the most significant ways they did this was by banning public performances of the hula, a dance missionaries deemed "vile heathen chants".

Kalākaua sought to restore a unified sense of national pride among Hawaiians, and his reign marked a period of cultural renaissance across the islands. He lived by the motto Ho'oulu Lāhui (Increase the Nation) and sought to remake Hawai'i for Hawaiians – all of which resulted in the revival of traditional customs such as language, music, arts and traditional medicines that had long been suppressed during the missionary-influenced era of his predecessors. One of his crowning achievements was preserving the hula. As Kalākaua famously proclaimed: "Hula is the language of the heart, and therefore the heartbeat of the Hawaiian people."

To many people around the world, "hula" may conjure images of tiki bars, plastic dancers shaking their hips on car dashboards or something that only happens at beachside resorts. But long before hula was commodified and appropriated, it was a sacred dance among Native Hawaiians – an ancient practice that served as an archive of our stories, beliefs and way of life. Prior to the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778, there was no written language in Hawai'i. Instead, ancient Hawaiians used oral tradition and hula to pass on their identity and culture from one generation to the next. Even when practice was prohibited, Hawaiians took hula underground, continuing to teach the forbidden dance in secret in caves and far-flung areas.

Photo 12/Alamy

King Kalākaua restored a sense of national pride and inspired a cultural renaissance among Hawaiians (Credit: Photo 12/Alamy)

As part of Kalākaua's Ho'oulu Lāhui policy, hula experienced a resurgence. In fact, the king's lavish two-week coronation ceremony was essentially a celebration of Native Hawaiian culture, featuring traditional music, hula and lū'au – all of which had previously been banned. To commemorate his 50th birthday three years later,

ho'opa'a

(chanters) and

'ōlapa

(dancers) performed in public for the first time in years, while a parade wound its way through downtown Honolulu. Today, the Merrie Monarch Festival pays tribute to the proud sense of Hawaiian identity Kalākaua revived.

"[Kalākaua] was deeply committed, proud and knowledgeable about his Hawaiian heritage," said Kahakalau, noting that the king was also the first person to have the

Kumulipo

(a creation chant that also includes the genealogy of Hawaiian royalty) written down.