Hōkūleʻa’s 50th Birthday | E Ola Mau

Museum After Hours
Hōkūleʻa’s 50th Birthday | E Ola Mau
Friday, March 14, 2025
5 pm – 9 pm

Location: Gallery Lawns | Hawaiian Hall Complex | J. Watumull Planetarium

$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door for General Admission. Free for Bishop Museum Members

In partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society, Bishop Museum is proud to celebrate the 50th birthday of Hōkūleʻa — Hawaiʻi’s legendary voyaging canoe, first launched on March 8, 1975. This milestone marks a half-century of cultural revival, environmental advocacy, and a renewed connection to the earth and ocean. For nearly five decades, Hōkūleʻa has served as a symbol of resilience, revival, cultural pride, environmental stewardship, peace, and hope. Join us on March 14, 2025 as we pay tribute to the canoe’s origins and legacy with special presentations, educational activities, tours, and more.

As we honor Papa Mau Piailug as the father of our modern understanding of traditional wayfinding, we honor Hōkūleʻa as the mother of modern voyaging canoes. This celebration is more than a birthday—it is an honoring of the work that forged Hōkūleʻa’s creation and a call to action for the future.

Bishop Museum’s relationship with the Polynesian Voyaging Society began in the late 1960s. At a pivotal time, the research of key individuals associated with the museum helped inform the creation of Hōkūleʻa, bringing together the work of Te Rangi Hiroa, Kenneth Emory, Herb Kane, Ben Finney, Yosihiko Sinoto, Tommy Holmes, Will Kylseka, Mary Kawena Pukui and many others. The evening’s programs will include tributes to these pioneers who have set examples of what can be possible for current generations.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society was forged in 1973 as an effort to replicate a traditional voyaging canoe, Hawaiʻi’s first in 600 years. From her launch in 1975 to the groundbreaking Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage of 2014-2017, Hōkūleʻa has sailed nearly 300,000 miles and completed 15 deep-sea voyages, bridging generations and communities through shared values of Mālama Honua (care for the Earth). Over the past 50 years, Hōkūleʻa has inspired the world to embrace the responsibility to protect the earth. As we look to the next 50 years and beyond, the lessons of Hōkūleʻa are more urgent than ever.

More info to be announced soon.