75th Mayor's Memorial Day Ceremony

In honor of those who made the final, full measure of devotion while serving in the Armed Forces for the United States of America, the City and County of Honolulu and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are honored to present the 75th Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Pūowaina (Punchbowl). The ceremony is free and open to the public, beginning promptly at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, May 25, 2026. The event features several ceremonial presentations and tributes, including: oli, speeches from Mayor Rick Blangiardi, color guard, presentation of wreaths, firearm salute, military aircraft flyover, playing of taps, performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band & Sounds of Aloha, and hula from the 97th Lei Court. In anticipation of the ceremony, DPR is beginning our statewide initiative to sew and gather 38,000 lei to adorn each grave at Pūowaina for the ceremony in a uniquely Hawaiian display of gratitude. The majority of the lei-sewing events on O‘ahu will begin the morning of Friday, May 22. The location and specific times for those opportunities are also posted on DPR’s dedicated Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony website bit.ly/MayorsMemorialDay More details concerning the 75th Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony, and how the public can view this time-honored event, will be announced later and can be viewed on the above website. Following WWII, Pūowaina was designated the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific with the first Memorial Day Ceremony held within the crater in 1949. That humble ceremony inspired the City to make the solemn commitment of placing a fresh lei on every grave within Pūowaina for a Mayor’s Memorial Day Ceremony. Unfortunately, since that time the number of graves has increased to the nearly 38,000 service members whose final resting place resides within the memorial cemetery; making the creation and placement of the lei a kākou, community effort.