By CHELSEA JENSEN
By CHELSEA JENSEN
Stephens Media
The two-day Waikii Music Festival, following a seven-year hiatus, returns this June to the Mauna Kea slopes with an array of Hawaiian, paniolo and country music on tap.
The festival kicks off 10 a.m. June 16 with multiple Grammy Award-winning Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder band, Amy Hanaialii and Band, John Cruz, Na Mele o Paniolo, Kohala, Reginald Burdon and Uncle Donnie B, said Tim Bostock, the festival’s producer.
On tap for Father’s Day Sunday is Willie K, Cyril Pahinui, Canadian country music star Paul Nash, Paula Fuga, Guy Cruz and father Ernie “Waimea Cowboy” Cruz Sr., Willie Jo Camaro and Damien de Mello, and Carly Smith.
In all, 19 performances are slated, about half of those by Big Island residents, Bostock said.
“It will be a really unique event that combines Hawaiian, country and paniolo music,” Bostock said. “It gives people the chance to celebrate and see that each of these music types, including paniolo, has its special place.”
In addition to enjoying the music, attendees are also benefiting nonprofits Aha Punana Leo and the Paniolo Preservation Society, Bostock said. Fees assessed on booths, which will house arts, crafts and food and beverage vendors, will go directly to the nonprofits and any profit the festival earns will be shared with the nonprofits, he explained.
First held in 1990, the Waikii Music Festival featured island favorites such as Makaha Sons, Israel Kamakawiwoole, the Lim Family, Maunalua, Melveen Leed, Pati and many more, attracting upward of 6,000 people per day, Bostock said. The event continued through 2004, except for one year in the late 1990s.
The event was halted by the Waikii Ranch Homeowners’ Association in 2005 citing new homes built adjacent to the grounds and parking issues, said Bostock. A “Waikii Music Festival” was held in 2005 in the Kailua-Kona area, but not on its traditional turf at Waikii Ranch.
Bostock, though he’d never been to a Waikii Music Festival and had only heard stories, decided to revive the music festival after purchasing a home within Waikii Ranch in 2011. He eventually got the association’s approval and then sought the necessary government permits and approvals.
To mitigate issues the festival faced before, Bostock said the event will allow only 3,000 people on site each day, close down the grounds by 7:30 p.m. and neither provide nor allow alcohol on the grounds.
Private security and off-duty Hawaii Police Department officers will be at the festival.
Bostock said the plans were critical to the association’s approval, as well as the Leeward Planning Commission’s approval of a special use permit, which is required any time agricultural land is used for another purpose.
“The ranch residents felt that it could happen again,” Bostock said. “We’re making it a proper venue because in the past it could get out of hand.”
Stephens Media was unable to reach the Waikii Ranch Homeowners’ Association for comment.
Tickets purchased through June 1 cost $40 per adult and $15 per child. Tickets purchased after that date cost $50 per adult and $20 per child. Children younger than 6 years are free.
Two-day passes, available only through June 1 at the Kahilu Theatre in Waimea, cost $75 per adult and $25 per child.
Tickets can be purchased by phone at 885-6868 or in person at Kahilu Theatre. Tickets are also available at the Palace Theatre in Hilo, Kiernan Music in Kealakekua and online at brownpapertickets.com.
For more information, as well as additional ticket outlets, which have yet to be announced, visit waikiimusicfestival.org.
Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.