Next: 11 Jun 2027
King Kamehameha Day
Hawaii drapes the statues of its first king in very long lei and holds a floral parade.
What happens
Hawaii honours Kamehameha I, who united the islands, with a state holiday on 11 June. The centre of it is a lei draping ceremony. Volunteers string lei many metres long, and a fire engine ladder is used to hang them, one after another, over the outstretched arm and shoulders of the king's statue in Honolulu. Other statues of him are draped in the same way. A floral parade follows, with floats and with riders on horseback in long skirts, each group wearing the lei and colour of one island.
The flowers
Original text by the Phool desk, written with AI assistance. Background: "King Kamehameha Day" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Plumeria: Renesis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lei: possibly Fernando Le Bleux, Public domain, source
- Hawaiian hibiscus: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source