HILO >> The town of Hilo has come alive as the 56th Merrie Monarch Festival gets underway, nearly a year after the start of Kilauea Volcano’s historic eruption in lower Puna.

Although the lava flows disrupted life on Hawaii island for months, the timing was on the side of the festival.

The eruption began after the conclusion of last year’s competition, and the U.S. Geological Survey lowered Kilauea’s threat level from advisory to normal in late March — just in time for all to breathe a sigh of relief before this year’s Merrie Monarch.

Hotel rooms are booked solid, restaurants and shops are bustling, and there is a palpable sense of excitement in the air as visitors from around the world descend.

“Especially for East Hawaii, it gets extremely busy,” said Miles Yoshioka, executive officer of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce. “During this time of year, we get an influx of people from all over the world, not only neighbor islands, but mainland halau, and halau from Japan.”

Local shops, restaurants and businesses look forward every year to the signature event, he said, the state’s largest cultural celebration featuring the world- renowned hula competition.

“Hilo might not have been affected directly by the flow, but still, we had a lot of friends and family that were,” said Yoshioka. “It did affect a lot of us in so many different ways, but this is the week for celebration. I think it’s a great time for Hilo, and we got some rain blessing us this morning.”

Yoshioka said the Chamber has also been fielding questions about next year’s festival, including when it will be and where to get tickets.

The nonprofit organizers are busy year-round preparing for the Merrie Monarch Festival named after King David La‘amea Kalakaua, who sought to revitalize Hawaiian culture and hula. Festival president Luana Kawelu said she had never stopped planning, beginning to organize for this year’s festival the day after the last one ended.

“Last year was a very challenging year because of all the natural disasters the people of Hawaii endured,” said Kawelu in her introductory letter for this year’s program. “For many, their hardships continue even until today. However, the people of Hawaii are resilient, and their strength and perseverance shine through.”

Kawelu, who volunteered at Pu‘uhonua O Puna, a community effort to help those displaced by the eruption, said she was grateful this year’s festival could continue.

Festivities began on Sunday with free hula performances at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium. The Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair featuring hundreds of vendors takes place at the auditorium every day through Saturday.

The competition commences today with the Miss Aloha Hula competition, group kahiko (ancient hula) on Friday, and group auana (modern hula) on Saturday ahead of the announcement of winners.

Hilo Mayor Harry Kim said he was happy to see Hawaiian language and culture flourish.

“The Merrie Monarch is the world being awakened, and sharing the absolute grace and warmth of the most beautiful people in the world,” said Kim. “It’s a joy that you cannot explain.”

Kim, 79, said he still recalls when late co-founder Auntie Dottie Thompson walked around the county building, trying to start the festival and giving tickets away to encourage people to attend. The first festival was held in 1964, and the first hula competition in 1971.

Today, ticket requests numbering in the thousands far surpass the approximately 4,200 seats available at Edith Kanaka‘ole Stadium, with half reserved for halau family members. Ticket requests must be mailed in the old-fashioned way, via the U.S. Postal Service as early as December.

“Yes, the eruption was horrendous,” Kim said. “Yes, (there was) the loss of thousands of acres, the loss of thousands of homes and displacement of people, and people still displaced. It will be awhile before a return to any normality for some.”

Merrie Monarch, though, will continue on, he said, and remain that time of year “for everybody to share a bit of the beauty and grace of the Hawaiian culture.”