Hawai'i Pacific Health

Celebrate the music, dance and history of the islands at the annual Aloha Festival Hawaii every September. The festival is one of the largest and oldest of its kind in the nation. Dancers, a royal court, parades, music and more are all part of the festivities.

The Honolulu Academy of Arts was founded in 1922 and opened to the public on April 8, 1927. It was the vision of Anna Rice Cooke, a woman born into a prominent missionary family on O‘ahu in 1853. Growing up in a home that appreciated the arts, she went on to marry Charles Montague Cooke, also of a prominent missionary family, and the two settled in Honolulu. In 1882, they built a home on Beretania Street, on the site that would become home to the museum. In 1961, Thurston Twigg-Smith opened an art gallery—the Contemporary Art Center—within the Honolulu Advertiser building, which he owned. The gallery featured work from Twigg-Smith's collection and work by local artists. In 1988, the Twigg-Smith family donated Spalding House, which was built by Honolulu Academy of Arts founder Anna Rice Cooke, to create The Contemporary Museum, a private, nonprofit museum for contemporary art in Honolulu. In 2011, The Contemporary Museum gifted its assets and collection to the Honolulu Academy of Arts and in 2012, the combined museum changed its name to the Honolulu Museum of Art.

Learn about the culture that encompasses the Hawaiian Islands as you explore the Polynesian Cultural Center. Enjoy a tour of gorgeous Oahu, experience an authentic luau, and see a breathtaking show of Polynesian dance, music, and storytelling. The Polynesian Cultural Center gives you the opportunity to discover the history and beauty of Hawaii.