April 23, 2026
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Kryslyn Hashimoto
Bishop Museum Hosts Celebrate Micronesia Festival: Ocean of Peace
In its eighth year at the Museum, the Festival brings together and honors
Micronesian voices from across the Pacific.
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi — Bishop Museum, the State of Hawai‘i Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is proud to once again host the Celebrate Micronesia Festival this Saturday, April 25, 2026. The event will run from 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. throughout the Museum’s 15-acre campus, and honors the rich traditions and contemporary expressions of the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guåhan (Guam), Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Kiribati, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The vibrant festival brings together Micronesian voices and communities from across the Pacific for a day of music, dance, art, food, fashion, and storytelling. This year’s theme, “Ocean of Peace,” uplifts a framework endorsed by Pacific Island leaders in 2025, envisioning a future for the Pacific region as a space of harmony and cooperation drawn from traditional values and cultural customs.
Image: Celebrate Micronesia Festival 2025.
The event is held in partnership with the East-West Center, Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and leaders from Micronesian communities across Hawai‘i.
“We’re honored to once again host the Celebrate Micronesia Festival for the eighth year, and we extend our gratitude to our Pacific Island communities, especially the many volunteers from our local Micronesian community led by Dr. Mary Hattori, for their partnership and support in holding this important event,” said Taylour Chang, Bishop Museum director of public programs and community engagement.
In addition to the community partners, cultural booths, and live performances and demonstrations that the event is known for, new additions to this year’s Festival include:
Ocean of Peace
Six contemporary artists of Micronesian heritage will display artwork from the landmark Ocean of Peace exhibition, which opened at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in January 2026: James Bamba (Guåhan/Northern Mariana Islands), Carol Ann Carl (Pohnpei), Gillian Dueñas (Guåhan), Kalany Omengkar (Belau/Northern Mariana Islands), Anthony Watson (Belau), and Lissette Yamase (Chuuk). These artists integrate the beliefs and practices of their Micronesian cultures with lived experiences in the Hawaiian Islands to build connections across island chains, expressing ways to collectively realize an ocean of peace.
The exhibition’s curatorial team includes Jonathan Yukio Clark, Director of Schaefer International Gallery at Maui Arts & Cultural Center; Mary Therese Perez Hattori, Ed.D., Director of the Pacific Islands Development Program at East-West Center (Retired); Eric Chang, Arts Program Manager at East-West Center; and Annie Reynolds, Ph.D., Curator of East-West Center Gallery.
We Hold These Truths
In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals, the Celebrate Micronesia Festival is proud to feature “We Hold These Truths,” a storytelling platform for communities to gather and share their experiences and perspectives.
In 2026, the United States of America is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is meeting this moment by engaging with communities around the country to explore how people strengthen cultural democracy by remembering and growing together through their local festivals.
Festival attendees are encouraged to participate in “We Hold These Truths” in two ways:
- Gather on the Museum’s Gallery Lawn stage to listen to conversations, poetry readings, and youth storytelling.
- Record their own reflections on the truths of their community at the “We Hold These Truths” interview space.
Celebrate Micronesia Festival: Ocean of Peace
- Saturday, April 25, 2026
- 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Throughout the Bishop Museum campus
- FREE admission | Pre-registration strongly recommended
- More information, including full performance schedule and tickets, can be found at org/CMF26.
The Celebrate Micronesia Festival extends its mahalo to its major sponsors and partners: East-West Center, Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals, Center for Pacific Islands Studies, Medical-Legal Partnership for Children of Hawaiʻi, Micronesians United – Big Island, Pacific Islands Development Program, Accel Events & Tents, and Bess Press.
This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.
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About Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawai‘i Museum of Natural and Cultural History:
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum’s mission is to inspire our community and visitors through the exploration, celebration, and perpetuation of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. The Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a royal descendant of King Kamehameha I. Today, the Museum thrives as an educational center for the community and is widely regarded as the world’s premier institution for Hawaiian and Pacific content.
Bishop Museum’s vast collections of more than 25 million objects and specimens represent nine disciplines and include more than 22 million biological specimens, over 2 million cultural objects, 115,000 historical publications, and 1 million photographs, films, works of art, audio recordings, and manuscripts. These collections tell the stories of the cultures and biodiversity of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific as well as the proud legacy of scholarly research spanning 130 years.
Bishop Museum proudly serves more than 200,000 visitors each year, including 20,000 children on school visits. Guests are encouraged to pre-plan their trip to #HawaiisMuseum with its free digital guide, available through Bloomberg Connects.
To learn more about the Museum’s research, collections, exhibits, and programs, visit BishopMuseum.org, follow @BishopMuseum on Facebook and Instagram, visit Bishop Museum’s YouTube channel, or call (808) 847-3511. Bishop Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Bishop Museum is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and welcomes applicants from the military, veterans, and those with disabilities. Learn about careers at Bishop Museum at BishopMuseum.org/Careers and on its LinkedIn page.
Bishop Museum Press is Hawai‘i’s oldest book publisher and one of the first scholarly publishers in the Western Hemisphere, and has published over 1,200 titles and distributed over 1 million books in 72 countries worldwide. Bishop Museum hosts a restaurant and gift shop on campus, Tūtū’s Place by Highway Inn and Shop Pacifica by Nā Mea Hawai‘i.
Past news releases can be viewed and downloaded at BishopMuseum.org/NewsRoom.