Aloha Festivals Aloha Festivals The Aloha Festivals are an annual series of free cultural celebrations observed in the state of Hawaii in the United States. It is the only statewide cultural festival in the nation. Highlights include the presentation of the Royal Court, a ho'olaule'a in Waikiki, and the Floral Parade. Approximately 30,000 people volunteer to plan, organize, and provide labor for the Aloha Festivals each year. Their efforts entertain over 1,000,000 people from throughout the state and visitors from all over the world. In the spirit of preserving the Hawaiian culture and heritage, the Aloha Festivals were established in 1946 as
Talofa Talofa Talofa is a salutation or greeting in the Samoan language of the Samoan Islands. "Talofa" echoes in such phrases as "ta'alofa" in Tuvalu, "aloha" in Hawaiian and "aro'a" in Cook Islands Māori. Another Samoan salutation "To life, live long!" properly translated "Ia ola!" also echoes in places such as Aotearoa (New Zealand), where the formal greeting in Māori is Kia ora and in Tahiti (French Polynesia) where it is 'Ia orana. "Talofa" is also the greeting of the island of Lifou (New Caledonia), and of the island state of Tuvalu. The word was brought to Lifou by the Samoan