Thousands of people toured Aloha Stadium today in a farewell from and to the largest gathering place in the history of Hawaii. The 50,000-seat facility opened in 1975, and on Monday its parking lot served as the finish line for the Great Aloha Run’s 12,000 entrants.

The stadium is slated to be torn down early next year, with a new Aloha Stadium replacing it at the same site in Halawa in 2027, according to the most recent estimates by state planners.

Today’s event, Aloha From Aloha Stadium, kicked off at 10 a.m. with a first wave of visitors allowed to tour many areas of the facility that were normally off-limits to the general public, such as locker rooms and the playing field itself.

The bowels of the stadium were converted into a museum, with all sorts of photos and other memorabilia on display from huge sports events like the Pro Bowl and University of Hawaii football games, and concerts by megastars such as Bruno Mars, Mariah Carey, The Rolling Stones, and Michael and Janet Jackson.

Some of the items are still open for bidding at oahuauctions.com in an online auction.

Visitors were also allowed access to parts of what was the stadium playing field, where food and beverage trucks and souvenir items were sold.

UH football coach Timmy Chang and members of the Warriors team were scheduled to appear at 6 p.m., and live entertainment featuring several performers including Frank DeLima and Sean Na’auao was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and continue to the event’s end at 9 p.m.