For more than three decades, entertainer Palani Vaughan has been a scholar on King Kalakaua and an advocate of his deeds.

With his mutton-chop sideburns and a beard recalling another era and his music extolling the virtues and spirit of Kalakaua, Vaughan has embodied the mana'o of the king like no other citizen.

On Sunday, Vaughan and his group, King's Own, will be principals in a state hoopla marking the 172nd anniversary of the birth of Hawai'i's 17th and last king, David La'amea Kalakaua, in three ceremonies around town, plus a parade through Waikiki. The culminating concert will be part of a daylong celebration at the 'Iolani Palace coronation stand where Vaughan hosts a beloved but ailing hula figure, George Naope.

"I'll be running from one event to the next," Vaughan said. "There's a lot happening."

Among the treats: an appearance by Naope, who's here from Hilo for the second annual International Waikiki Hula Conference that's under way. He's one of the gathering's resources, but on a personal level he'll fulfill a three-decades-long dream to appear with Vaughan on the historic palace environs.

"I was informed last year that Uncle G had a deep desire to perform hula for King Kalakaua on the 'Iolani Palace grounds," said Vaughan. "That message was related to me at the same time that I was told that Uncle G was diagnosed with lung cancer."

For Naope, the performance will be a moment to remember. He has been a pillar of Hilo's Merrie Monarch hula festival, which is dedicated to Kalakaua, known as the "Merrie Monarch" and a patron of the arts. Kalakaua restored many cultural traditions and enabled hula, myths and legends of Hawai'i to be shared publicly after they were forbidden by the missionaries for more than 70 years.

"He's wheelchair-bound and very weak, and he's been long time healing from lung surgery and his five-and-a-half-month hospital stay," said Jacqueline "Skylark" Rossetti, a Hilo radio personality with a lifelong commitment to Hawaiian music and a Naope friend from way back.

"So this Kalakaua thing gives him reason to continue on, and it's nice for Palani to help Uncle George fulfill his dreams. He's 80 — will be 81 in February — and he's done so much, taking Hawai'i outside to the rest of the world, opening pathways for Island entertainers in Japan. He loves hula and Hawaiian music; we owe a lot to him."

"I have been told that Uncle G has requested to perform a hula noho, or sit-down hula, from his wheelchair," Vaughan said.

It was in 1977 when Vaughan staged the first of his many "Ia 'Oe E Ka La" concerts at the Waikiki Shell — and when Naope first performed with Vaughan with 30 members of his halau in tow. "I was amazed and complimented that he would be so moved to come all that way to help celebrate our last king's birthday — and that was before the Merrie Monarch competition came to 'live' television."

Over the years, Vaughan has adopted the mantra of the ali'i.

"Through music, I have attempted to tell of (Kalakaua's) courageous undertaking to encourage his people to 'Ho'oulu Lahu,' or 'increase the nation,' which was his motto throughout his reign, a motto that was manifested in a meaningful way in the founding of Kapi'olani Maternity Home (now Kapi'olani Medical Center), to provide free medical care to Hawaiian mothers and their infants, for which Queen Kapi'olani went door-to-door to raise the much-needed money to build his home," said Vaughan.

The facility opened five months before Kalakaua's death on Jan. 20, 1891, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

KING KALAKAUA BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Various times and venues Sunday:

• 'Iolani Palace festivities, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., palace grounds. A presentation of Friends of 'Iolani Palace. Events include:

11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., free palace tours for kama'aina (admission for nonresidents); with rare display of Kalakaua's treasures, including a glass diamond-encrusted cigarette case and a pocket watch in the jewelry gallery

Noon, inspection of the Royal Guards

12:20 p.m., posting of the Royal Guards

12:30 p.m., presentation of hula and gift to royal family

12:45 p.m., concert by the Royal Hawaiian Band

1:30 p.m, Halau Hula o Kekaikuihala, kumu hula Nettie Armitage-Lapilio

2 p.m., 'Ahi Wela firefighter musicians (to honor Kalakaua for his contributions to the fire department)

2:30 p.m., Palani Vaughan and King's Own, with George Naope

3 p.m., Royal Guards released; closing

• A ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at the King Kalakaua statue at King Kalakaua Park, where Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues meet. A presentation by the Freemasons of Hawai'i and the United Japanese Society.

• 10 a.m-noon, a parade from Saratoga Road to Kapi'olani Park; featuring Shriners, royal societies, Royal Hawaiian Band, Kalakaua Middle School Band, Kahuku High School Band; Coline Aiu and Palani Vaughan are parade marshals.

• A ceremony at 10 a.m., Royal Mausoleum at Mauna'ala, Nu'uanu, with a program in the chapel, followed by a gathering in the Kalakaua Crypt. A presentation of 'Ahahui Mamakakaua (Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors).