Kuhio Beach Hula Show Now Runs Saturdays as Waikiki Adds Dining Options

If Tuesday nights used to mean walking down to the Hula Mound for the torch lighting, you may have already noticed something missing this summer. The show is still there. The night it used to fill is not.

The Kuhio Beach Hula Show, the free program the Waikiki Improvement Association runs on the grass beside the Duke Kahanamoku statue, posted a one-line update on its own schedule page sometime after June: Tuesday shows are discontinued. What's left is Saturdays only, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., with the mound going dark on July 4, Sept. 19, Oct. 17 and Oct. 31 this season. The next one runs this Saturday, Sept. 12.

That single line is easy to scroll past if you're checking the schedule for a specific date. It's harder to ignore if you've spent years treating Tuesday at the Mound as a fixed point in the week, the kind of free, no-reservation plan that made a weeknight in Waikiki feel manageable. The schedule change is one part of a broader look at what is happening along this stretch of Waikiki in 2026.

What Actually Changed at the Mound

For years, the Hula Show ran twice a week. Different sources over time have listed it as Tuesday and Saturday, or occasionally Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday depending on the season and the sponsor lineup. As of this summer, the schedule has narrowed to one night.

The show itself hasn't changed. It still opens with a conch shell blow, still runs an hour, still sits on the only pa hula, or hula mound, in Waikiki that was blessed specifically for hula performance. What changed is how often the neighborhood gets it for free.

Earlier Changes to the Schedule

This isn't the first time the schedule has shrunk. Longtime attendees on Waikiki travel forums have described a Sunday show that was cut years ago for budget reasons, with someone who'd spoken to the mayor's office reporting no plans to bring it back. Another stretch saw the entire program go dark for a period after funding fell through, before it eventually resumed.

The show is a nonprofit project of the Waikiki Improvement Association, kept running by donated time and money from hotels and businesses including Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Halekulani, Kaimana Beach Hotel, Central Pacific Bank and more than a dozen others. It isn't a city department with a line-item budget, and the current schedule lists Saturday shows only.

Other Options Near Kuhio Beach

While the Mound lost a night, the blocks around it gained several. The Hula Show's reduced schedule and nearby business changes are two developments in Waikiki this year. One concerns a free cultural program; the others add dining options nearby.

The most visible change is a few minutes inland from the beach. Waikiki Market and its restaurant 'Olili, on the second floor of Lilia Waikiki at 2380 Kūhiō Ave., closed for construction earlier this spring and held its grand reopening on Aug. 25, 2026. The market runs 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with a new customizable loco moco station among its expanded prepared-food lineup. 'Olili, open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m., added a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with $6 pūpū and a revamped dinner menu built around dishes like chili crab noodles and roasted bone marrow. Following the reopening, anyone with a Hawaiʻi ID got 50 percent off a meal from the food stations, one per customer, on Aug. 26 and 27.

A few other openings landed within a few blocks of the beach this year:

• Nori Bar, opening on Kūhiō Avenue in February 2026 in the former Ice Monster space, seats 70, more than four times the 16-seat counter at its original Ward Village location, and runs a rotating schedule of Japanese breakfast, grab-and-go onigiri, sushi and kaisendon at lunch and dinner, and craft cocktails at night.
• Kana Curry, an Osaka-style Japanese curry counter that opened inside the Royal Hawaiian Dining Plaza in January 2026.
• Hawaiian Style Seafood Co., chef Jon Matsubara's outpost at Waikiki Shopping Plaza spotlighting Kona kampachi and locally sourced seafood, with an hour of validated parking on a $20 purchase.
• Botanico, an Italian and Mediterranean restaurant on Seaside Avenue and the Zetton Group's 12th Oʻahu location.
• Liliha Bakery, adding its sixth location and second Waikiki spot at Beach Walk, expected to open as a bakery and restaurant in summer 2026.

These businesses add dining and shopping options near the beach; they are separate from the free cultural show. A Tuesday might include a stop at Waikiki Market's food stations.

Two Changes in Waikiki

Together, the schedule and openings offer a snapshot of Waikiki's current mix of cultural programming and commercial activity.

In 2026, Kūhiō Avenue offers a grocery store with a poke bar, a curry counter, and a sushi bar with weekly ʻahi cutting demos. The free program now appears on Saturdays, while nearby businesses have their own schedules.

A Tuesday Night Now, in Practice

If you're rebuilding your own routine around the new schedule, the practical version looks like this. Saturday still belongs to the Mound, weather and blackout dates permitting, with the next show this Saturday, Sept. 12. The posted schedule makes the change clear: the show now runs on Saturdays rather than Tuesdays.

Whether you've lived in Waikiki for years or you're the kind of person who tracks these small shifts because you're thinking about property here eventually, this is the texture that doesn't show up on a portal listing. Drew Read works this neighborhood closely enough to notice changes in a weekly schedule and new openings along the block. If you want a read on how a specific building or street in Waikiki is actually changing, not just what it's listed for, let's connect.