Aunty Kapu leads Kauai King’s Parade, free hula performance in Līhue

Kumu hula Kapu Kinimaka-Alquiza, known to her students as Aunty Kapu, spent a packed weekend turning Kukui Grove into a living classroom in hula, music and community leadership. Her role as grand marshal of the Kauai King’s Parade and Ho‘olaule‘a put her at the center of the island’s public celebration before her hālau even took the stage for a free presentation in Līhue.

The parade and ho‘olaule‘a were scheduled for Saturday, June 13, 2026, starting at 9 a.m. on Rice Street from the Vidinha Stadium parking lot and ending at the Historic County Lawn and Eiwa Street area. Presented by the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission, the event was free and ran until about 2 p.m., drawing families, kūpuna and students into a procession that tied Kamehameha remembrance to everyday island life.

A day later, Aunty Kapu’s hālau was set to present at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Kukui Grove food court stage area, a familiar public space at Kukui Grove Center where community performances have long found an audience. The free presentation followed musician Kimberly Hope, whose own path mirrored the same theme of growth through teaching. Hope began as a street violinist before moving on to higher-profile gigs and teaching young students, making the pair-up feel less like a simple show and more like a passing of the torch.

That sense of inheritance matters on Kauai, where hula survives through instruction, repetition and presence in public spaces. The hālau’s presentation fit into a tradition at Na Hula O Kaohikukapulani, which once held two ho‘ike each year, one around Father’s Day and another during the holidays. The rhythm of those gatherings helped frame hula as family labor and community memory, not museum performance.

The weekend also carried the weight of continuity. In 2025, the Kauai King’s Parade and Ho‘olaule‘a was described as the 108th annual celebration, a reminder that the Rice Street procession has outlasted generations while still adapting to the people who carry it forward. For Aunty Kapu, that meant standing not only as an honoree, but as a teacher whose students, parade presence and free public presentation showed how culture is preserved on Kauai: by being shared in the open, with the next generation watching.