Ho'olaule'a: Hawaiian Culture Celebration

Ho'olaule'a: Hawaiian Culture Celebration

A special Hawaiian cultural celebration at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Local Hawaiian dance school Halau Ho'omau I ka Wai Ola O Hawai'i performs traditional Hawaiian music and hula throughout the day, with three performance sets at noon, 2pm, and 4pm. Kids get to see and hear traditional instruments like pahu drums, ipu gourds, bamboo nose flutes, and feathered gourd rattles. The museum itself is always worth a visit, and this event adds a really cool cultural layer on top of it. It is one of those only-in-DC moments where you can experience a living culture in a beautiful museum setting, all for free.

Parent Tips 💡

• ✓Time your visit for the noon performance and then explore the museum afterward.
• ✓The museum cafe has really good food with Native American and Indigenous-inspired dishes. Worth eating there.
• ✓Combine this with other Mall activities. The Air and Space Museum and Natural History Museum are a short walk away.
• ✓The performances are indoors, so weather is not a concern.