Your Weekend Guide to Hilo

This weekend in Hilo, Hawaii brings 4 live events across the city — from music to theater. 4 events are free. Here's what's on.

Hilo hosts the most important cultural event in Hawaii: the Merrie Monarch Festival, the world's premier hula competition, which fills the town the week after Easter with dancers, craftspeople, and visitors from across the islands and the world. Tickets are famously hard to come by, but the festival's parades and free performances open the celebration to everyone. The rest of the year, the restored 1925 Palace Theater anchors downtown with film, concerts, and community performances, while the Hilo Farmers Market keeps the old bayfront lively. With Hawaii Volcanoes National Park up the road, Hilo's events come with a backdrop of genuine wonder.