With a blueprint in place and one successful event under his belt, entrepreneur Ron Gibson said he's received the go-ahead to do two more Crater Celebrations inside Diamond Head Crater in 2007 and 2008.

Gibson said he has state permits for two more annual events in hand, and next time around, he hopes to include international talent, expand the event to the Neighbor Islands and incorporate a conference encouraging global cultural exchange, creating as much as a week's worth of events across the Islands.

Dates are not yet set.

"It's amazing we got the first one off, after weeks of inclement weather," said Gibson in a telephone conversation from Napa Valley, where he is staging a series of summer events.

After three decades of public inactivity inside Diamond Head, Gibson presented a Crater Celebration on April 1. Though marred by mud and rain, following an unusual spell of 42 days of rain on O'ahu, the event attracted an orderly sellout crowd of 7,500.

The crater was the site of periodic rock festivals in the 1970s and '80s, but those were known for noise and rowdiness, while this year's carefully organized event drew a well-mannered (and older) crowd.

"It was pretty phenomenal, and the happiest crowd I've ever seen," Gibson said. "I carried my ti leaf (for good blessings) around with me all day, and we did the gin thing and the tiki thing for good luck."

Gibson has to connect with hotels and airline sources, he said, before finalizing dates. "It will be sometime in the spring," he said. "Possibly in May."

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority will return as a sponsor.

Frank Haas, the HTA's vice president of tourism marketing, said he welcomes the news of the return of the crater event for two more seasons. "From the big-picture standpoint, we're always trying to expand the consumers' view of Hawai'i," Haas said. "Three-quarters of our visitors from the west (U.S. Mainland) are repeaters, and half of the visitors from the East, including Japan, are returnees. The festival is part of our message and fits the cultural picture."

Like this year's celebration, the festival will be part of the Hawai'i arts season, Haas said, and the dates will be promoted when confirmed.

"Nothing is easy; I think we earned the respect of the people and the acts with the first one," Gibson said. "We proved we were a can-do operation. We used the venue, drawing on (Diamond Head Crater's) wonderful history, and now we have to move on."

Acts that performed inside the crater in the past will be considered again, Gibson said. Steve Miller and Linda Ronstadt headlined the 2006 roster.

"I would love to showcase cultural acts from Brazil, Japan and Europe for an international focus, but the main drive will be Hawai'i and its people," Gibson said. "I'm just an individual, so I will need colleagues and others in the entertainment industry to step up and come under our umbrella to fulfill this dream. It would be great to have European tenors in a concert hall, reggae on stage, something cultural from China or India to contrast with progressive modern acts."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.