Bishop Museum Invites Kamaʻāina and Military to Family-Friendly Event Plus New Exhibits for $5 on Saturday, May 31

# Bishop Museum Invites Kamaʻāina and Military to Family-Friendly Event Plus New Exhibits for $5 on Saturday, May 31

Special day to kick off summer includes the 2025 Science & Sustainability Festival, the debut of the Kamāla'ulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space, a new coral reef exhibit, and access to Expedition Dinosaur: Into the Deep.

Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History, invites kamaʻāina and military to kick off summer with a special day of new exhibits plus a campuswide, family-friendly event for $5 admission per person. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, guests can enjoy the following attractions at Hawaiʻi's Museum:

• 2025 Science & Sustainability Festival
• New: Kamāla'ulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space
• New: A coral reef exhibit in the Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center
• New: Expedition Dinosaur: Into the Deep
• Access to all the Museum's exhibits and galleries, including historic Hawaiian Hall and the recent addition of the Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa, We Are One and the Same exhibit in the J. Watumull Planetarium

"Our Bishop Museum ʻOhana strives to provide positive and memorable experiences for our guests, and especially welcome those new to Bishop Museum or who may not have visited us in a while," said Brandon Bunag, Ed.D., Bishop Museum vice president of public programs and interim director of education. "On Saturday, May 31, we invite our local and military ʻohana to come and spend time with us on our campus, have fun, and learn new things in the beautiful setting of Kaiwiʻula."

Details, quotes, and links for the attractions are listed below; a full list of community partners participating in the Science & Sustainability Festival is provided at the end of this release. For more information, please visit BishopMuseum.org.

2025 Science & Sustainability Festival

A family-friendly day of science and cultural education, this annual Bishop Museum Signature Program brings together Museum scientists, educators, cultural practitioners, and dozens of community partners to highlight the ongoing work needed to protect our islands' biodiversity and build a sustainable future for Hawaiʻi.

The 2025 Festival will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature keiki activities, special presentations and performances, and more than 50 booths throughout Bishop Museum's 15-acre campus, plus exhibition highlights, live music, and food and drink vendors on its Great Lawn. Admission is just $5.00 for kamaʻāina and military with ID, and provides access to all Festival events and programs as well as Bishop Museum's galleries and exhibitions.

"We hold the Science & Sustainability Festival every year because, every year, the work needed to build a sustainable future keeps evolving, the issues facing our environment become increasingly pressing, and there needs to be a consistent call to action for our community to get more involved in being part of the solutions," said Taylour Chang, Bishop Museum director of public programs and community engagement. "The Festival aims to engage youth and parents in particular, and inspire the next generation to get involved with any of the featured community initiatives and organizations beyond the event."

"Bishop Museum is proud to be an annual platform for these calls to action and to leverage our institutional resources to raise awareness of the work being done at the Museum and in the community," Chang added.

Kamāla'ulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space

As recently introduced by the Museum, Kamāla'ulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space is a new Signature Gallery designed to be a community education space featuring new displays and special programming to help inspire guests to expand their knowledge of traditional land management, local food security, and a sustainable future for Hawaiʻi.

"The goal of Kamālaʻulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space is to increase public knowledge of traditional indigenous stewardship practices, community-oriented aquaponics, and familiarity with Native Hawaiian (endemic and Indigenous) and Pacific plants," said Kapalikūokalani Maile, Bishop Museum education programs manager. "The space will provide educational engagements for ʻohana from Hawaiʻi and abroad to learn about Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) land and resource management, local food sovereignty and security, and different ways to grow plants for home gardens through aquaponics."

"Kamālaʻulahiwa refers to dryland agriculture (māla) and the deep red of the soil (ʻulahiwa), but also makes reference to the traditional name of the ʻāina upon which Bishop Museum stands, Kaiwiʻula," Maile shared.

The Kamāla'ulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space structure is located next to the Nā Ulu o Kaiwiʻula Native Hawaiian Garden, and features a mural painted by Kaelyn Okuhata, local artist and Bishop Museum director of corporate partnerships, along with Museum staff and community supporters.

"The Kamālaʻulahiwa ʻOhana Learning Space mural design was conceptualized to represent an 'urban ahupuaʻa' in Kaiwiʻula," said Okuhata. "The top of the mural depicts the mountain range which was a backdrop to Kaiwiʻula before urban development. The bottom of the mural is a combination of colored blocks with imagery of native plants, animals, and people, forming a quilt of elements that impact our environment."

"My hope is that visitors will see the mural and feel welcomed into Kamālaʻulahiwa," Okuhata shares. "I'd like it to spark curiosity and a desire to learn more about the native species in our garden, and participate in the public programming that will take place in the space."

New Coral Reef Exhibit in the Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center

A new exhibit in Bishop Museum's Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center will showcase the rich biodiversity in our islands' coral reefs, presented as two distinct sections:

• On the ground level of the Science Adventure Center, the exhibit will feature the shallow sunlit reef systems that most of us are familiar with, highlighting some of the native corals that make up our reefs in Hawaiʻi.
• The lower, second level of the exhibit will highlight the deeper and less familiar mesophotic coral reefs, often referred to as the "twilight zone" of the ocean, where light barely penetrates. Deep sea fish and other mysterious creatures will be represented here, giving guests a close-up look into the darker environment being explored by Bishop Museum scientists.

Expedition Dinosaur: Into the Deep

This limited-run exhibit in the Castle Memorial Building is the third in the series designed by Stage 9 Exhibits. Into the Deep unveils the captivating stories of oceanic and aquatic reptiles from the Mesozoic Era, and also brings back favorites like the T-Rex and Stegosaurus.

The exhibit features lifelike animatronic dinosaurs with realistic movement and sound, plus interactive elements throughout the space, including:

• Journey to the Deep Theater, a completely immersive journey through time with state-of-the-art lighting and sound
• Tools and equipment to scan for fossils in rocks and simulate a fossil dig
• A Bell Ranger 47J interactive helicopter display

Full Access to Bishop Museum Exhibitions and Galleries

With their $5 admission to the Science & Sustainability Festival, kamaʻāina and military guests will receive access to the attractions noted above, plus all of the Museum's exhibitions and galleries. These include historic Hawaiian Hall, the Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center, and the J. Watumull Planetrium's lobby, which features a new exhibit that debuted in March, Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa, We Are One and the Same. This original, permanent exhibit celebrates the resurgence of wayfinding across Hawaiʻi and the wider Moananuiākea (the vast Pacific Ocean), and was curated by members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.

Science & Sustainability Festival Participating Partners

• American Bird Conservancy
• BIORETS at Kanu O Ka ʻĀina
• Bishop Museum Natural Science Collections:
  • Botany
  • Entomology
  • Ichthyology
  • Invertebrate Zoology
  • Malacology
  • Pacific Center for Molecular Biodiversity
  • Vertebrate Zoology
• Board of Water Supply
• CERENE Sustainability Lab
• City & County of Honolulu – Resilience Office
• Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle
• Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi
• Conservation Dogs of Hawaiʻi
• DLNR Division of Forestry & Wildlife
• Friends of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge
• Hawaiʻi Agriculture Research Center
• Hawaiʻi Audubon Society
• Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation Storm Water Management Program
• Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources (DLNR)
• Hawaiʻi Energy
• Hawaiʻi EV Association
• Hawaiʻi Green Growth UN Local2030 Hub
• Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority
• Hawaiʻi Nature Center
• Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
• Hawaiʻi State Energy Office
• Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization
• Honolulu Zoo
• Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project
• Koʻolau Mountains Watershed Partnership
• Mālama Maunalua
• Mālama Mushrooms - Hawaiʻi Fungi Project
• Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project
• Native Hawaiian Hardwoods for Traditional & Cultural Practices
• NOAA Inouye Regional Center
• NOAA NWS International Tsunami Information Center and Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
• Oʻahu Invasive Species Committee
• Oʻahu Plant Extinction Prevention Program
• Oʻahu Water Protectors
• Ocean Music Action
• Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System
• Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project
• Pop-Up Lab for STEM
• Protect & Preserve Hawaiʻi
• State Climate Commission
• Summer Marine Mammal Intensive Learning Experience (SMMILE)
• UH Mānoa Ka Mea Kolo Entomology Club
• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Algal Biodiversity Lab
• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Ichthyology Museum
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Office of Law Enforcement
• Waiʻanae Mountains Watershed Partnership
• Western Pacific Fishery Management Council