2020 Festival Information

The 2020 Festival will be held at the Sheraton Kaua‘i Coconut Beach Resort on February 28-29, 2020, immediately preceding the 2020 Aloha Music Camp. A pre-festival kanikapila jam session is planned for Thursday. February 27, 2020, at Duke's Kaua‘i in Lihue.

An exhibit featuring vintage steel guitars will be presented throughout the festival.

Open Stage performances will be held on Friday afternoon. These sessions will feature steel guitar players in half-hour playing sessions. If you are a Hawaiian Steel Guitar player or a band with a Hawaiian Steel Guitar and would like to reserve an open stage session, please submit your request by filling out the form on the Contact Page. Due to the nature of the festival, your performance should be on the Hawaiian steel guitar but incidental use of other Hawaiian instruments is permissible.

Evening activities include Friday workshops. Saturday's main Ho‘olaule‘a program will begin at noon. The lineup of featured performers will be posted here and on the festival's Facebook page as soon as it is finalized.

Public kanikapila jam sessions will follow each day's main activities. Jam sessions are open to anyone and may include steel guitar masters and other musicians. Anyone is invited to participate and play along with the featured players and festival guest musicians. Musicians are advised to bring their own instruments, amplifiers and music stands if required.

Education is a key component of the steel guitar festivals. School visitations by master steel guitarists and youth steel guitar players will be scheduled with local area schools. These visitations will include an introduction to the Hawaiian steel guitar and its importance in Hawaiian music and culture. A musical demonstration will be given by the visitation team. Local area schools will be contacted about scheduling a visitation time on Thursday and/or Friday.

If you or your Kaua‘i public or private school has not yet been contacted and would like a visitation and presentation, please see the Contact Page and fill out the form indicating your request.

Festival T-shirts, artists' CDs and the festival poster will be available for purchase at the festival information booth.

All festival activities will be presented at indoor venues to avoid any potential weather-related problems.