MEDIA RELEASE

Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a unit of the National Park Service with a cultural festival and series of events June 24-26.

The Cultural Festival takes visitors back to old Hawaii in the 1800s. Practitioners in traditional dress will provide visitors with a unique Hawaiian experience, honoring the culture and traditions of the Hawaiian people and cultural experts, and providing local residents and the community a time and place to gather, learn and share.

Other attractions include a hookupu (offering) opening and closing ceremony, hula performances, canoe rides, food tasting, weaving, hukilau (traditional fishing), musical implements,lei making, medicinal plants, archaeological hikes and much more.

What: Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park’s 50th Anniversary

When: 9-3 p.m. Friday, June 24 to Sunday, June 26

Where: Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park
South on Highway 11 to Mile Marker 104 Turn Right on to Highway 160, Ke Ala O Keawe Road, for three miles.

Cost: Free. Limited parking available.

Why: Celebrating 50 years as a unit of the National Park Service.

In ancient Hawaii, trespassing in areas sacred to Hawaiian chiefs was punishable by execution unless the offender could escape to the nearest puuhonua, or place of refuge. Puuhonua O Honaunau is one of the last remaining places of refuge in Hawaii today that have been preserved.