The “Maui Mikoshi Contest” is an event held for high school students on Maui Island.

On this day, the mikoshi designed by the students of Baldwin High School, the winners of this year’s contest, will be unveiled for the first time.
The Maui Mikoshi will be on display at the Hawaii Convention Center throughout the festival.

We have received a message from Baldwin High School, this year’s winning school, about the meaning behind their design!

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Aloha and Mahalo – 30 Years of Cultural Celebration

Baldwin High School Mikoshi Design Concept
To depict the theme of this year’s Mikoshi Design Contest, “Aloha and Mahalo – 30 Years of Cultural Celebration”, we tried to incorporate images that not only expressed the cross-cultural goals of the Honolulu Festival but also gave a nod to the ebullient atmosphere associated with a festival.

Side Panel 1 – Ha

We went with the image of Ha, the breath of life, to show the connectedness across the Pacific Ocean the Honolulu Festival has nurtured. We felt depicting 2 different ethnicities in this panel illustrated the idea of cross cultural interaction. On top of what the image represents, Ha is a part of the word Aloha which further ties it to the theme.

Side Panel 2 – Hanabi

The idea of a celebration and a festival were the aims of this panel with a reference to the Nagaoka Fireworks which close out the Honolulu Festival. These fireworks were not always a part of the festival so we thought it would also show some of the evolution of the festival over the last 30 years.

Side Panel 3 – The Great Wave

The Great Wave – The iconic wood block print was our inspiration for this panel. We went with a slight twist by having a canoe instead of boats to tie the image to the theme. The idea is that there might be difficulties at first when starting something new, such as a big undertaking of bringing 2 cultures together, and the task might feel overwhelming, but the effort is worthwhile since we come to better understand similarities and differences and can mahalo and celebrate each other.

Side Panel 4 – Ikebana

The idea of ikebana is to arrange things to embody harmony, beauty, and peace. We included this as a nod to the hope for harmony and peace through cultural exchange and the beauty that can come from it. It is also an acknowledgement that sometimes there needs to be someone to arrange all the elements to create the desired outcome.

Roof Panels

The concept of the roof panels is a lei that wraps around the whole roof. The lei would be in 4 sections with a different flower on each panel. The idea is to represent Japan (sakura), the State of Hawaii (hibiscus), the island of Oahu (ilima), and the island of Maui (lokelani). Wrapped through those flowers is a ti leaf lei that connects all the panels together. Since ti leaf leis represent ideas like good luck, strength, and protection, its presence in these panels represents our hope that the strong ties between Japan and Hawaii continue along with the festival.

Top of the Roof

We would like a yagura placed on top of the mikoshi. We thought it would be fitting to have a yagura on top of the mikoshi to embody the idea that the participants carrying the mikoshi are gathered around a yagura like we often see locally at obon festivals. Having a yagura moving through Waikiki in the parade would also further tie in the spectators as they would be gathered around a focal point of a festival.

Maui Mikoshi Unveiling Ceremony
[ Date ] March 14th (SAT) 2026 11:30am
[ Venue ] Hawaii Convention Center 1F

Maui Mikoshi Exhibit
[ Date ] March 14th (SAT) 2026 & March 15th (SUN) 2026
[ Venue ] Hawaii Convention Center 1F