Hilo, HI

Two destructive tsunamis remade the center of Hilo. On April 1, 1946, waves generated in Alaska struck the bayfront, and another tsunami from Chile arrived on May 23, 1960. The second disaster destroyed much of the rebuilt commercial area along the water. Hilo responded by keeping the most exposed land open: former business blocks makai of Kīlauea Avenue became part of a green zone with lower-intensity waterfront uses. The state established Wailoa River State Recreation Area in 1954 after the first disaster; reconstruction following the 1960 tsunami expanded the open-space strategy. The broad lawns and waterways between downtown and Hilo Bay serve as public space and a visible record of the city’s response to repeated coastal danger. Wailoa now gives the center an unusually open foreground.

ATTRUnknown author Unknown author or not provided / Public domain

The 131.9-acre state recreation area supports walking, picnicking, shoreline fishing, small boats, and community events. Wailoa Center, built for cultural use after the green zone was established, contains two galleries with changing exhibitions and free admission. Across the bayfront, the Pacific Tsunami Museum preserves oral histories and directs visitors to sites connected with the 1946 and 1960 disasters. A walk between downtown and Hilo Bay now passes galleries, lawns, riverbanks, and marked tsunami sites across blocks once occupied by businesses. Art exhibitions, lunches on the lawn, and stops beside the river occur on land whose previous street pattern was erased. Downtown shops and offices begin inland from this open band; lawns and waterways occupy the shoreward blocks. Hilo’s working life joins county government, ocean freight, higher education, and earth science.

ATTRRobert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada / CC BY 2.0

The community is the seat of Hawaiʻi County, and the Port of Hilo handles cargo and passenger vessels for the island’s east side. Warehouses and harbor facilities occupy the southeastern waterfront beyond the public bayfront. Inland, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo maintains a four-year campus and hosts the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes, which works with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Opened in 2006, ʻImiloa Astronomy Center occupies a nine-acre campus above the university and presents Maunakea astronomy together with Hawaiian culture and language. Scientists, students, county offices, and shipping activity thus occupy different parts of Hilo’s weekday landscape. Each spring, the Merrie Monarch Festival changes the city’s calendar and public spaces.

ATTRPaul Hirst ( Phirst ) / CC BY-SA 2.5

The festival was founded in 1963, held its first edition in 1964, and was reshaped in 1971 around a formal hula competition and the cultural legacy of King David Kalākaua. In 2026, the festival marked its 63rd annual edition. Its development coincided with the Hawaiian Renaissance, and its organizing nonprofit centers the perpetuation of hula and Hawaiian culture in its mission. The festival’s week-long program includes three nights of competition as well as demonstrations, an arts fair, and a parade through Hilo. Hālau arrive with months of preparation, while artists and cultural practitioners meet audiences outside the stadium. Festival week spreads from the competition floor to downtown streets and exhibition spaces, putting hula, craft work, and public ceremony into several parts of Hilo at once.