City invites public to Honolulu Hale lei-making for Memorial Day

HONOLULU — The City invites the public to Honolulu Hale Courtyard on Friday, May 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., to enjoy the music of the Royal Hawaiian Band, hula by Lei Day Queen Sandrina Lei Ilima Cabato De La Cruz, and celebrate May Day by sewing lei for the upcoming Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at Punchbowl Cemetery.

Friday’s event inaugurates the first of many planned brown bag lunch gatherings hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Culture and Arts, and brings the public together for family-style socializing and networking. 

The Department of Parks and Recreation hopes to use this opportunity to reach their goal of collecting more than 50,000 fresh flower or ti leaf lei, measuring 20-24 inches before tying.  The lei will be placed on each veteran’s grave marker at Punchbowl and other cemeteries in Hawaii, in time for the annual Memorial Day ceremony on May 30 that honors Hawaii’s fallen heroes.

For more information on donating fresh flowers or sewing lei, please contact the Department of Parks and Recreation, 768-3002.