Ko Olina & The Hawaiian Council Partnership

A Legacy of Cultural Experience Where Hawaiʻi Lives

Photo Credit: Hawaiian Council

Photo Credit: Hawaiian Council

At Ko Olina, one of Hawaiʻi’s most successful resort destinations, guests are welcomed into the stories of Hawaiʻi, shared by the people of Hawaiʻi, in their own voices.

Through a groundbreaking partnership with Hawaiian Council, a Native Hawaiian organization dedicated to strengthening the cultural, economic, and political well-being of Native Hawaiians, Ko Olina’s cultural programs are guided and created by Native Hawaiian leadership. Guests experience Hawaiʻi through storytelling, dance, music, and cultural crafts that are offered with context and respect.

This partnership represents a new approach within Polynesia, one that places Indigenous people at the center of cultural storytelling and ensures that cultural experiences also support the communities they come from. When visitors choose to be here, their presence helps sustain local artists, practitioners, and the living culture they carry. Here, indigenous people are not positioned as a feature of tourism, but as partners with authority in shaping its future.

Why this matters
We believe community-led tourism creates a better way forward, one where the visitor experience is more meaningful and the benefits are shared more directly with local communities.

Guests don’t just watch a cultural performance; they build connection, understanding, and appreciation for the culture and the stories. As a result, they leave with something real: a deeper sense of aloha as it lives in Hawaiʻi, expressed through kindness, relationship, and responsibility. This is something intangible they carry home with them, an experience that shapes how they treat each other and the world around them.

Together Ko Olina and Hawaiian Council are grounded in values people in Hawaiʻi live by:

Ko Olina invites visitors into a meaningful relationship with Hawaiʻi as a living place while keeping mutual respect, community benefit, and cultural stewardship at the heart of visitor and destination engagement.

Visit: HawaiianCouncil.org

Cultural Leadership

Led by CEO Kūhiō Lewis, Hawaiian Councilʻs mission focuses on strengthening Native Hawaiian cultural preservation, economic opportunity, and community leadership.

The organization’s work across Hawaiʻi includes:

  • Cultural preservation
  • Housing and community development
  • Workforce training and education
  • Indigenous entrepreneurship
  • Cultural tourism initiatives

Through this collaboration with Ko Olina, Native Hawaiian leadership is able to guide how culture is represented within the destination and how employment, creative opportunity, and economic participation can be designed with community benefit in mind. This partnership marks a new chapter that aims to move from simply presenting Hawaiian culture to sharing responsibility and decision-making power with the people to whom that culture belongs.

  • Po Mahina Laʻilaʻi: Ko Olinaʻs Pō Marina Laʻilaʻi Summer Series celebrated Hawaiʻi’s vibrant culture with live acoustic performances by local musicians and dancers and a curated selection of award-winning short films written and directed by Hawaiʻi-based film makers. Presented weekly, each evening honored the stories of Hawaiʻiʻs past, the voices of today, and the future dreams of our island keiki.
  • Aloha Festivals: Ko Olina Resort hosted a week of Aloha Festivals celebrations from September 7–13, 2025 with special programs presented by Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu at Ko Olina, Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club and Ko Olina Golf Club. The celebration culminated with a free community event featuring live performances, cultural demonstrations, food trucks, and a special appearance by the Aloha Festivals Royal Court. Rooted in the traditions of Makahiki, the Festivalsʻ 2025 theme “Ko Kula Uka, Ko Kula Kai” honored the deep connection between Hawaiʻi’s upland and coastal communities and celebrated the farmers, fishermen and home cooks who sustain the islands’ food traditions.
  • Westside Hoʻolauleʻa - Ko Olina’s first-ever Westside Hoʻolauleʻa marked the close of the Makahiki season in Hawaiʻi with a celebration rooted in culture and community. This free, family-friendly gathering reflected a shared vision between Ko Olina and the Hawaiian Council to honor Hawaiian traditions, strengthen community connections, and create meaningful opportunities for local musicians, dancers, and cultural practitioners. Together, the event celebrated the abundance and gratitude that define Makahiki while helping ensure these traditions are carried forward for future generations. Mahalo to every artist, vendor, and community member who showed up with pride and aloha!

Kaula Lūʻau
Kaula Lūʻau is the first major cultural experience created through the partnership between Ko Olina and the Hawaiian Council.

Located at Ocean’s Edge at Ko Olina, Kaula is a powerful, story-driven cultural production created and led by Native Hawaiian artists and performers. As a meaningful investment in West Oʻahu, Kaula Lūʻau has:

  • Created more than 140 local jobs
  • Expanded opportunities for experienced cultural performers and artisans
  • Supported a network of Hawaiian designers, musicians, and craftspeople
  • The Hawaiian Goddess Hiʻiaka a large-scale production inspired by the moʻolelo of Hiʻiaka, the sister of Pele, whose journey across the islands is one of Hawaiʻi’s great epic narratives.

The production, debuting in Fall 2026, is expected to combine:

  • Dramatic stage performance
  • Traditional chant and dance
  • Modern theatrical design
  • Immersive storytelling

As with any public presentation of moʻolelo, the measure of success won’t only be production scale. It will be whether the story is told with care and guided by cultural knowledge, context, and responsibility.

Latest Hawaiian Council News

09 Apr 2026

Aloha In Action Benefit Concert

Join us on Thursday, April 23, 2026; Ko Olina & Hawaiian Council present the Aloha in Action Benefit Concert—a night of music, healing, and collective kōkua for communities impacted by recent flooding across Hawaiʻi.
25 Feb 2026

Kaula Lūʻau Launches in Ko Olina This Week

Source: alohastatedaily.com; A new immersive cultural performance that is a partnership between Hawaiian Council and Ko Olina Resort will debut on Friday, Feb. 27, in West Oʻahu. The performances will take place in a space next to Ulua Lagoon 4.
18 Feb 2026

West Oʻahu Takes The Stage

Source: midweek.com; Developed through a new cultural framework partnership between the Hawaiian Council and Ko Olina, the production marks a significant step in how cultural experiences are created and shared in West Oʻahu.
10 Feb 2026

Native Hawaiian-led Productions Anchor

Source: staradvertiser.com; “Kaula Lu‘au,” opening Feb. 27 at Ocean’s Edge, is the first major project in a Hawaiian Council–Ko Olina partnership to build a culture driven entertainment district in West Oʻahu, and is creating 166 jobs.
26 Jan 2026

Ko Olina Westside Ho'olaule'a

Join us as we celebrate the end of Makahiki season in Hawaiʻi at the 1st Annual Ko Olina Westside Ho’olaule’a. Enjoy LIVE traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music with popular local artists.
26 Dec 2025

New Luau and Cultural Performances Coming

Source: travelandtourworld.com; A new era begins for Hawaiian tourism with an exciting range of cultural programs and performances planned for 2026. Ko Olina, a stunning resort community on the western side of Oʻahu, is about to undergo a major transformation in its cultural offerings.
03 Sep 2025

Aloha Festivals

Experience Aloha Festivals at Ko Olina Resort from September 7 - 13! Enjoy Festival programs throughout the week presented by Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu and Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club.

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