Honolulu · RedAwning

Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi50,000 attendees, 7,000 floating lanterns, one Memorial Day evening at Ala Moana Beach Park

Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi is a Memorial Day evening ceremony at Magic Island in Ala Moana Beach Park, Honolulu — a remembrance ritual rooted in the Buddhist tradition of Tōrō Nagashi, hosted annually since 1999 by Shinnyo-en Hawaii. Attendees write messages of remembrance on white paper lanterns, which are then released onto the lagoon at sunset. The 2024 ceremony drew approximately 50,000 spectators and floated more than 7,000 lanterns; admission is free, the broadcast streams live worldwide.

Hours todayClosed todaySee full schedule below
TicketsFreeAdmission
LocationHonolulu, HawaiiMagic Island, Ala Moana Beach Park, 1201 Ala Moana Blvd
Official sitelanternfloatinghawaii.comPlan your visit

~50,000Annual attendance
~7,000Lanterns released
1999First held
~90 minCeremony length

Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi has been held every Memorial Day at Magic Island, the artificial peninsula at the southwest end of Ala Moana Beach Park, since 1999. Hosted by Shinnyo-en Hawaii — the local affiliate of the Tokyo-based Shinnyo-en Buddhist order — the ceremony grew out of the Japanese Tōrō Nagashi tradition, in which paper lanterns are floated on water to guide the spirits of the departed back to the otherworld. The Hawaiʻi version was reframed as a non-sectarian remembrance for victims of war, water-related accidents, natural disasters, famine, disease, and any loved one lost; the lantern messages can be written in any language, addressed to any person.

The day runs long. Gates open at 10:00 AM for lantern requests and lawn seating; food trucks and craft tents on the Magic Island lawn open at noon. The pre-ceremony program — Hawaiian and Japanese music, hula, drumming — runs from 5:00 PM. The formal ceremony begins at 6:30 PM with remarks from Shinnyo-en's head priestess Her Holiness Shinso Itō, who is flown in from Tokyo for the event. The six "parent lanterns" representing the six categories of remembrance are floated first, followed by the public's 7,000 personal lanterns; total lantern release takes roughly fifteen minutes and ends near sunset.

Plan around the crowd. Ala Moana Center's garage is the practical free parking; arrive by 3:00 PM to walk the seven minutes to Magic Island and find lawn space with a clear lagoon view. Bring a low folding chair (high chairs block the rows behind you), water, sunscreen, and a flashlight for the post-ceremony walk back to the car. Do not bring outside lanterns — only ceremony-distributed lanterns may be released, and unauthorized ones are removed from the water by support crews. The live broadcast on YouTube runs 6:30–7:30 PM HST and is the standard option for anyone watching from outside Hawaiʻi.

Lantern release at sunset
Six parent lanterns — for victims of war, water tragedies, natural disasters, famine, illness, and personal loss — are released first, followed by approximately 7,000 personal lanterns submitted by attendees. Total release lasts about fifteen minutes; lanterns drift west toward the channel as the sun drops below the Waiʻanae range.
Magic Island lagoon
The artificial peninsula extending southwest from Ala Moana Beach Park, completed in 1964 as part of a never-built resort plan and converted to public parkland. The protected lagoon at its tip is the only saltwater body in central Honolulu calm enough to hold thousands of paper lanterns in place — a key reason the ceremony has been here since the start.
Shinnyo-en blessing ceremony
The formal program is led by Her Holiness Shinso Itō, the head of the Shinnyo-en Buddhist order, flown in from Tokyo each Memorial Day to officiate. The full Shinnyo-en service runs roughly 25 minutes — bell ringing, sutra chanting, blessing of the parent lanterns. Non-Buddhists are explicitly welcomed; the message is universal remembrance.
Remembrance message lantern
Each lantern is hand-built from biodegradable paper and balsa wood with four white panels — attendees write personal messages, names, drawings, or prayers on each face. Pens are provided at the lantern tent. Floats are recovered from the water by midnight and the messages digitized for the Shinnyo-en archive; the wood is recycled.
Pre-ceremony cultural program
From 5:00 PM, a stage on Magic Island hosts Hawaiian hula by Hālau hula schools (recent years included Hālau Mōhala ʻIlima and Hālau Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu), taiko drumming from Taiko Center of the Pacific, and Hawaiian and Japanese choral music. Free, family-friendly, sound system clear out to the parking edge.
Live YouTube broadcast
Streamed live on the official Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi YouTube channel from 6:30–7:30 PM HST every Memorial Day, the broadcast has accumulated millions of views since 2010. Five drone and water-level cameras follow the lantern drift; closed captioning in English and Japanese. Free for anyone outside Hawaiʻi.
Free parking at Ala Moana Center
The Ala Moana Center mall garage — the largest open-air shopping mall in the world by tenant count — sits a seven-minute walk north of Magic Island and offers free parking. Arrive by 3:00 PM; the garage fills by 5:30 and the post-ceremony exit can take 30+ minutes. Public Bus Routes 8, 19, 20, and 23 stop at the mall.
Memorial Day timing
The last Monday in May — the U.S. federal Memorial Day holiday. The 2024 ceremony was held May 27; the 2025 ceremony is scheduled for May 26, 2026 for May 25. Sunset on Memorial Day Honolulu falls at approximately 7:13 PM, which is why the formal release timing has stayed at 7:15 PM since the ceremony began.

Open hours

The ceremony is held once a year, on Memorial Day (the last Monday in May). Gates at Magic Island open at 10:00 AM for lantern request and seating; pre-ceremony entertainment begins at 5:00 PM; the formal program runs 6:30–7:30 PM with the lantern release roughly 7:15 PM at sunset. Ala Moana Beach Park itself is open daily 4:00 AM–10:00 PM for the rest of the year.

MondayMemorial Day · 6:30 PM
TuesdayTodayClosed
WednesdayClosed
ThursdayClosed
FridayClosed
SaturdayClosed
SundayClosed

Note · Lantern requests close roughly two weeks before the ceremony; sign up at lanternfloatinghawaii.com from early March. Walk-up requests on the day are limited and distributed first-come at the lantern tent on Magic Island. Live broadcast streams on the ceremony's official YouTube channel for those who can't attend in person.

Ticket pricing

Per-person admission. Buy in advance to skip the gate line.

Ceremony admissionFreeFree and open to the public; no ticket required
Personal lanternFreeFree with advance request via lanternfloatinghawaii.com
Parking (Ala Moana Center garage)FreeFree at the mall; expect 30+ min exit traffic post-ceremony
Live YouTube broadcastFreeStreams 6:30–7:30 PM HST on Memorial Day for remote viewers

Lanterns are made of biodegradable paper and balsa wood; organizers retrieve every lantern from the water by midnight and recycle the components. No outside lanterns or candles are permitted on the water — only those distributed by the ceremony. Bring a folding chair, sunscreen, and water; the lawn fills by mid-afternoon.

Request a lantern

Where to stay