The Merrie Monarch Festival, Hilo’s week of hula, runs March 28 to April 3, 2027, its 64th year. The Salomon IRONMAN World Championship is on Saturday, October 9, 2027, with the swim in Kailua Bay and the finish on Aliʻi Drive in Kailua-Kona.
Most events during Merrie Monarch week are free. You need tickets for the three competition nights, from $10 for one night to $60 for a reserved seat on all three, and the only way to request them is a form sent by mail and postmarked November 16, 2026, or later. Only qualified athletes race IRONMAN. On race day you can watch in Kona, and you’ll need to plan drives around the closures on Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway.
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Merrie Monarch Festival 2027 dates: March 28 to April 3 in Hilo
During Merrie Monarch week, free events take place at venues around Hilo from Sunday through Saturday. The festival holds the hula competition on three nights, Thursday through Saturday, at Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium, and seats are by ticket only. Without a seat, you can watch the competition on TV. On Saturday morning, the Royal Parade goes through downtown Hilo.
Free events during Merrie Monarch week
The festival starts on Sunday, March 28, at 9 a.m. with a Hoʻolauleʻa (celebration) at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. Admission is free, and local hālau (hula schools) perform. From Monday through Friday there is free midday hula at the Grand Naniloa Hotel at noon and at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel at 1 p.m.
From Wednesday, March 31, through Saturday, April 3, the Merrie Monarch Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair runs at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. It’s free. Hōʻike (exhibition) night is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the stadium: hula and folk dance from around the Pacific, free, with no tickets required. The festival’s 2027 schedule lists every event with its time.
Watching the Merrie Monarch Royal Parade in Hilo
The Merrie Monarch Royal Parade starts at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 3, and goes through downtown Hilo, beginning and ending at Pauahi Street. It’s free to watch. You can watch the parade in the morning and spend the afternoon at the arts fair, with time to spare before the 6 p.m. competition night.
In 2026, Kamehameha Avenue was closed from Pauahi Street to Suisan Bridge from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on parade day. Bayfront Highway, Pauahi Street, Kīlauea Avenue, Keawe Street and Waiānuenue Avenue were also closed for those hours. Parking was prohibited along the route and on nearby streets, with citations or towing for cars left there, and Hele-On buses were rerouted. Plan the 2027 parade morning around similar closures, with no parking along the route.
Merrie Monarch competition nights and how tickets work
Each competition night starts at 6 p.m. The first, on Thursday, April 1, is Miss Aloha Hula, the individual competition in hula kahiko (ancient style), hula ʻauana (modern style) and oli (chant). Friday, April 2, is Group Hula Kahiko. Saturday, April 3, is Group Hula ʻAuana, followed by the awards.
The only way to get tickets is the festival’s mail-in request form. The festival accepts requests postmarked November 16, 2026, or later, and returns any with an earlier postmark. You can request at most two tickets per person. Pay by cashier’s check or money order in US dollars (no personal checks), and include a self-addressed stamped #10 envelope. The festival processes requests through January and tells you the result in writing.
The festival’s ticket page has the request form and the 2027 prices. Tickets run from $10 for Miss Aloha Hula night alone to $60 for a reserved seat on all three nights. The festival doesn’t sell or guarantee blocks of tickets to tour groups or travel agencies. You can’t bring stadium chairs or outside food and drink into the stadium, and you need the festival’s authorization to take photos or video. For questions about a ticket request, call the festival office at (808) 935-9168.
Watching Merrie Monarch on TV or online
Hawaii News Now and KFVE are the festival’s TV broadcasters. In 2026 it also streamed the competition nights and Hōʻike night live on merriemonarch.com. Check merriemonarch.com for the 2027 broadcast and stream details before you plan an evening around them.
Where to stay in Hilo during Merrie Monarch week
Book your Hilo room as soon as you know your dates. The Hilo side has no full-service resorts, and our Hilo accommodation guide compares staying in Hilo Town with Volcano Village.
IRONMAN World Championship 2027: October 9 in Kailua-Kona
Entry to the Salomon IRONMAN World Championship is by qualification only. In 2026, nearly 3,000 athletes swam 2.4 miles in Kailua Bay, then rode 112 miles along Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway to the Hāwī turnaround and back. IRONMAN’s race page has the 2027 date and the course.
Where to watch the IRONMAN in Kailua-Kona
In Kailua-Kona, watch the swim start from the Kailua Bay waterfront and the finish on Aliʻi Drive. In 2026 the pro men started from Kailua Pier at 6:20 a.m. and the age-group athletes from 6:38 a.m. If you want to see the swim start, be on the waterfront by 6 a.m. Watching from the waterfront or the roadside along the course is free; there is no spectator ticket. IRONMAN also streamed the 2026 race live and free online, so spectators could follow the bike leg without leaving town.
The 26.2-mile run goes out and back on Aliʻi Drive, then up Palani Road to Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway. From there it continues to the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaiʻi Authority (NELHA, the “Energy Lab”) and back to the finish on Aliʻi Drive. Each athlete gets 17 hours from their own swim start. In 2026 the last scheduled finish-line program, “Hawaiʻi Aloha (Aunty Mele’s Hour),” was at 11:45 p.m.
IRONMAN race-day road closures on Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway
In 2026, the southbound lanes of Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway (Route 19) between the Kaiminani intersection and Palani Road were closed from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next morning. Northbound lanes stayed open. Farther north, the highway between the Kawaihae Road junction and Kaiminani was closed from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with northbound lanes reopening in stages. Akoni Pule Highway (Route 270) to Hāwī was closed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To reach Hāwī during those hours, take Kohala Mountain Road (Highway 250).
In town, Palani Road between Kuakini Highway and Aliʻi Drive was closed from 3:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next morning. Kailua Pier and Aliʻi Drive between Kaʻahumanu Place and Likana Lane were closed from Thursday to Sunday of race week. More of Aliʻi Drive was closed on race day.
If you land or fly out on race day, plan your airport transfer around these hours. Check the 2027 closure maps on IRONMAN’s road restrictions page before you book.
IRONMAN race week in Kona and where to stay
In 2026, IRONMAN held an open-water training swim at Kamakahonu Beach on the Sunday before the race. IRONMAN Village opened on Tuesday at Hale Hālāwai on Aliʻi Drive.
In 2026, the Parade of Nations went along Aliʻi Drive on Tuesday evening, with athletes walking behind their flags. The Underpants Run was on Thursday, a fun run of 1.5 to 2 miles out and back on Aliʻi Drive, open to all ages, starting from the King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel lot.
Book your Kona room as soon as you know your dates. If you stay near Kailua Pier, plan your parking around that week’s Aliʻi Drive closure. Our Kona accommodation guide sorts the places to stay by area and budget.
Planning a Big Island trip around Merrie Monarch or IRONMAN
If you can’t be in Hilo for Merrie Monarch week, our luau and hula guide compares the island’s luaus and its free hula shows. For the rest of the year, our Big Island events calendar shows events for the next 30 days and a month-by-month list. Confirm the 2027 Merrie Monarch and IRONMAN dates on merriemonarch.com and ironman.com before you book flights.