15th Annual Southern California Slack Key Festival & Island Marketplace Set For January

Kala Koa Entertainment celebrates 15 years of bringing the biggest and brightest names in Hawaiian music to the mainland with the 2022 Southern California Slack Key Festival returning to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center on Sunday, January 16, 2022.

One of the most acclaimed Hawaiian concerts to ever leave the islands, the Southern California Slack Key Festival takes fans on a Hawaiian musical journey showcasing GRAMMY-winning slack key guitarists, the best hula dancers in the world, special guest performers and a free to the public Island Marketplace.

Since 2008, the Southern California Slack Key Festival has been the biggest Hawaiian music concert event in the mainland U.S., and features the most respected names in Hawaiian guitar music and hula today. Taking its name from a finger-picking style of guitar playing indigenous to Hawaii (as heard on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for "The Descendants"), the Slack Key Festival brings the art of ki ho'alu guitar to Redondo Beach.

This year's Southern California Slack Key Festival's line-up includes George Kuo (available for live interviews/performing starting on January 14th - one of the last 'elders' from the Hawaiian music community along with his his rare double neck guitar), Jim "Kimo" West, Makana, Jeff Peterson, Kenneth Makuakane, Patrick Landeza & Sons, Ian O'Sullivan, Pomaika'i & Malie Lyman, Alan Akaka, Patrick "Kaipo" Asing

Played from the heart and soul through the fingers and flowing with vivid tropical images, Hawaiian ki ho'alu (slack key) is truly one of the great acoustic guitar traditions of the world. In slack key, some of the strings are "slacked" from the standard guitar tuning, with the thumb playing the bass notes while the other fingers play the melody and improvise in a finger-picked style.

How does the distinctive sound of slack key music fit into the fabric of Hawaiian music and culture? Watch this video and learn more about this beautiful generations-old art form - https://vimeo.com/155399448.

In addition to the concert, an Island Marketplace - free to the public - takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Browse a variety of island themed gifts, home décor, accessories, apparel, and more. Plus, Hawaiian food, authentic island-style shave ice and outdoor entertainment.

Tickets: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/kalakoa/1723/event/1237315 or 800-595-4849.