Hawaiian Airlines May Day 2025, presented by Mele

HONOLULU - Hawaiian Airlines May Day 2025 presented by Mele continues the annual Lei Day tradition by the Brothers Cazimero with Keauhou, the 19-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning group, returning to headline the concert experience alongside special guests, including Robert Cazimero, Hālau Nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua, Kaipo Hale, Kuana Torres Kahele, and co-hosts, Billy V. and Debbie Nakanelua-Richards, director of community & cultural relations at Hawaiian Airlines.

The live concert will be on Thursday, May 1, from 5-9 p.m. at the Great Lawn of Bishop Museum. Concert tickets are available for purchase at mele.com. Audiences around the world can enjoy the live broadcast on May 1 at 7pm, exclusively on mele.com.

As a production of nonprofit organization Kāhuli Leo Leʻa, the concert will feature performances of mele, hula, and moʻolelo that will not only serve to entertain, but to educate. Producer and executive director, Zachary Lum, explains that “the theme of this year’s show honors the 50-year hula legacy of Robert Cazimero.” Lum adds, “While Hawaiʻi and the world celebrates the legendary voice and music of Robert Cazimero, we don’t often get to celebrate the kumu hula that is Robert Cazimero. May Day will be one of many 50th anniversary celebrations for Hālau Nā Kamalei o Līlīlehua.”

The cultural celebration will be another memorable chapter in the series of May Day concerts with the joint support of co-title sponsors Hawaiian Airlines and Mele.com, and the following sponsors: Hawaii Tourism Authority, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Accel Rentals, The Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikīkī Beach, Highway Inn, Kahui Palaka, Noho Home, Hawaiian Host, Hawaiian Pie Co., Okinakalani Ltd., and more.

“Our purpose to connect people with aloha begins with honoring the traditions of our island home, and we’re excited to set the stage for a celebration of one of our most cherished holidays by showcasing several of Hawaiʻi’s greatest musicians,” said Nakanelua-Richards.

Co-presenting sponsor, Mele.com, will be the exclusive broadcast platform for this year’s concert. For more information and updates, visit mele.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@mele.stream).

About Kāhuli Leo Leʻa and Mele.com

Kāhuli Leo Leʻa is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to catalyze aloha ʻāina through the education, composition, and presentation of mele and other cultural practices. Mele.com, a program of Kāhuli Leo Leʻa, is Hawaiʻi’s first non-profit, community-driven streaming platform that aims to empower Hawaiʻi-based Creators with economic opportunity within Hawaiʻi’s Creative Industry. For more information about Kāhuli Leo Leʻa, visit us at kahulileolea.org, or follow us on Facebook and on Instagram (@kahulileolea). 

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, with McGee Air Services a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. With hubs in Seattle, Honolulu, Portland, Anchorage, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, we deliver remarkable care as we fly our guests to more than 140 destinations throughout North America, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Alaska is a member of the oneworld Alliance with Hawaiian scheduled to join in 2026. With oneworld and our additional global partners, guests can earn and redeem miles for travel to over 1,000 worldwide destinations. Guests can book travel at alaskaair.com and hawaiianairlines.com. Learn more about what’s happening at Alaska and Hawaiian. Alaska Air Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as “ALK.” 

About May Day

Hawaiʻi’s cultural phenomenon is best explained in the simple words of Leonard Hawk: May Day is Lei Day in Hawaiʻi. Since 1927, May Day has hosted countless kamaʻāina and malihini who joined in the annual celebration of the flower lei and all things Hawaiian. Besides the making, wearing, and giving of lei, May Day celebrations eventually became synonymous with music, hula, crafts, and so many cultural practices.

In 1977, the celebration expanded further with the first May Day concert by the Brothers Cazimero at the Waikīkī Shell. This annual tradition would last decades and become the dependable beacon and culmination of this lei celebration. After what seemed to be the last May Day in the early 2000's, Robert Cazimero approached Keauhou, the group consisting of Jonah Kahanuola Solatorio, and brothers, Nicholas and Zachary Lum, to see if they would be willing to carry the torch forward – continuing the immense legacy of music, hula, and, of course, lei. Keauhou humbly accepted this kuleana and began a new chapter of this celebrated tradition on May 1, 2019, at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. In 2020, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing cultural/educational programming, Kāhuli Leo Leʻa, took on the mantle of producing the annual spectacle in partnership with Keauhou and with the support of other community partners.

Host or Publisher Kahuli Leo Leʻa