ʻIkena ʻImiloa: Merrie Monarch Marketplace & Enrichment Programs

In celebration of the 2026 Merrie Monarch Festival, ʻImiloa Center is planning a curated mission-aligned marketplace alongside cultural engagement workshops and immersive panel discussions titled “ʻIkena ʻImiloa: Merrie Monarch Marketplace & Enrichment Programs.” These offerings will serve as complementary programming during the week-long Merrie Monarch festivities.

Hosted by ʻImiloa in partnership with INPEACE Center for Entrepreneurship and Kākou Collective, a Hawaiian-owned boutique stationery business, ʻIkena ʻImiloa embodies the enduring pursuit of ʻike. This initiative will create a space where commerce, ʻike Hawaiʻi, and cultural practice intersect. It aims to uplift Hawaiian-owned, Hawaiʻi-based small businesses, ʻōpio entrepreneurs, and cultural practitioners, while offering meaningful opportunities for learning, exchange, and generational knowledge transmission for Merrie Monarch attendees as well as the local and broader community.

This curated marketplace and enrichment series will feature selected vendors and small businesses that are primarily Hawaiian-owned and/or Hawaiʻi-based, whose products, services, and ʻike are dedicated to the betterment of Native Hawaiians, Hawaiian culture, and language revitalization, with a special highlight on ʻŌpio/youth entrepreneurs. Importantly, these vendors will also serve as cultural practitioners and subject-matter experts, facilitating workshops and participating in panel discussions throughout the week at ʻImiloaʻs classroom and Planetarium venue.

Hosted by University of Hawaiʻi Foundation (on behalf of ʻImiloa Center)

For registration or more information, visit: event details

Learn more at the organization website.