The state appeals court denied today a request by a Maui man to halt Halloween festivities scheduled for Wednesday at Lahaina.

A three-member panel of the Intermediate Court of Appeals denied Richard Dancil’s motion seeking to halt the event sponsored by Maui County and the Lahaina Town Action Committee.

Dancil lost in Maui Circuit Court earlier in his bid to halt the event in the Lahaina Historic District. He is alleging the Halloween activities in Lahaina are insensitive to, and could harm, Hawaiian culture. Dancil is Native Hawaiian.

In the two-paragraph order, the appeals court said it considered the request, supporting documents and the court files, but was denying the motion.

The Lahaina Halloween event, dubbed the Mardi Gras of the Pacific, drew about 20,000 people last year, according to an estimate by one of the organizers.