It’s Time to Bring Back
HBMF Live in 2024!

Alpin Hong will perform at the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival fundraiser on October 26. Itʻll be a great evening, donʻt miss it. Click image to donate.

For 17 consecutive years, the free nonprofit Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival (HBMF) has presented Hawai‘i authors, music and VIP authors from around the world. It has become a unique and indispensable community forum dedicated to exploring the problems and potential of “Hawai‘i 2.0,” and constitutes the most content-rich event in the state. 2020-2022 was just the beginning of the Festival’s transition, from “A Celebration of Story and Song,” to a more purposeful theme: “The Wonderful Diversity of Books, Arts, Ideas and Music that Defines Us.” The pandemic required HBMF to hold Zoom events the past three years, but we used the opportunity to develop a very well received suite of new themed programs, including dozens of powerful and insightful interviews and panels with national and international VIP Authors.

But, the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival is its best version of itself when it’s in-person, and we are determined to return to an in-person event in 2O24.

An in-person Festival requires a substantial minimum budget. We’ve managed in the past with sponsorships and grants, but inflation has almost doubled our hard costs. As a result, there won’t be a full HBMF this year, though we are planning a hybrid program honoring Hawai‘i authors with new 2023 books, Oct 21-22.

We will now have to depend much more on donations as well as sponsorships and grants. The very good news is that the Festival has just been recommended for a Grant In Aid from the City & County of Honolulu for 2024, in the amount of $113,000, one of the few Arts & Culture beneficiaries, and the highest award we have ever received. That puts us a third of the way, with 14 months to raise the rest.

Now we need your investment to ensure the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival not only survives but evolves into its true potential, and we are inviting you to the HBMF October Fundraiser.

Alpin Hong—New Date!
5:30 pm, Thursday, October 26, 2023
at the UH Mānoa Orvis Auditorium

It will feature a champagne reception and an extraordinary performer who has just arrived in Hawai‘i, concert pianist Alpin Hong. Like HBMF, Alpin loves to break boundaries. When you see his YouTube videos, you will instantly understand why we chose him to introduce the 2024 in‑person Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival.

Tickets are $99, via this Eventbrite invitation:
https://bit.ly/HBMFFundraiser

If you cannot attend, please consider a donation. You can make it easily via our Donate page.