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The Pure Aloha festival's 20th edition was disrupted and forced to close early due to reports of gunshots on April 8, 2023 at Craig Ranch Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to reports, the gunshots came from outside the festival but were loud enough to be heard inside the grounds, which resulted in panic among the crowd in the festival.
The festival confirmed the report that the incident in question took place outside the festival grounds in a video tweet on their official Twitter handle:
The tweet also confirms that the festival will continue with its subsequent dates, with additional precautions taken to ensure the safety of its patrons.
Pure Aloha festival to continue with its program
Los Angeles police confirmed in a statement to KTNV that there had been no injuries at the festival grounds. Honolulu City Councilman Augie Tulba, who was present at the event, said the following regarding the incident in a statement to HawaiiNewsNow:
"You heard a popping sound and then you saw just kids running. It was not on the fairgrounds. It was across the street at the strip mall by the gas station."
According to reports, there were also several brawls at the event that day. Festival attendee Kendall Weber stated the following regarding said brawls to HawaiiNewsNow:
“Four of five different fights transpired over that few hours that we were there. The last one, we were by the carnival by the rides and I said we got to get out of there before it got worse. And it got worse"
On the night of the indicent, the Hawaii band Ho’onu’a's performance was stopped due to the festival being closed for the night as a precaution.
This year's Pure Aloha Festival celebrates the 20 year anniversary of the event. lt was founded by Shawn Santana, who moved to Las Vegas after selling his company in the Hawaiin Islands, which he had founded after graduating from high school.
Upon arriving in the city, Shawn started missing the unique entertainment scene of Hawaii and founded Vizzun Entertainment in 2000 in order to share the island’s music and culture with his new home.
The Pure Aloha festival was founded in 2003 to bring Hawaiin music acts to Las Vegas under one roof and the annual music festival attracts thousands of visitors every year.
In addition to music, the festival also hosts Polynesian art as well as cuisine native to the AAPI communities and carnival rides for kids and adults.
