2022 Aloha Festivals Theme

This year, Aloha Festivals celebrates Aloha ʻĀina, Love of the Land, as its theme.  The foundation of Aloha ʻĀina is a reverence for the ʻāina (land) as a venerated ancestor.  Subsequently, we collectively have kuleana (a responsibility) to care for the land from whom we receive nourishment.  ʻĀina literally means ‘that which feeds,’ or ‘that which provides sustenance,’ and includes all of nature.  Like the pebble in a pond metaphor, Aloha ʻĀina begins with our individual one hānau, the place we were raised and consider home.  And like the growing concentric ripples caused by the pebble, Aloha ʻĀina extends outward to our kaiāulu (community), to our ahupuaʻa (traditional Hawaiian communal land division), to our moku (traditional Hawaiian district comprised of ahupuaʻa), to our mokupuni (island), to our paeʻāina (the Hawaiian islands), to Kahiki (the traditional home of kānaka), and encompasses all of the Honua (Earth).  Aloha ʻĀina is also an esteemed epithet, and those regarded as Aloha ʻĀina wear the badge proudly.  Aloha ʻĀina compels us to leave a place better than we first encountered it.  Aloha ʻĀina teaches us that caring is reciprocal: if we care for the land, the land will care for us.  Aloha ʻĀina further imparts that reciprocity grows exponentially with time.  The more we care for the land now, the greater care the land will have for our descendants.  This same love for the land exists throughout the world and is an affirmation of our humanity.  As we celebrate our love for these islands we call home, we invite you to Aloha ʻĀina in your part of our world community.  E Aloha ʻĀina Pū Kākou!  Let’s all get active in caring for the land!