Came here when it was less crowded the seating area is big wide open with chairs, tables, and a…read moregreen luscious outdoor view. There were only a few vendors like maybe 4 trucks at the time we got a plate from a vendor called "Wasabi Express by Tiger" the white woman who most likely also works with the main chef randomly approached us recommends it for my partner and I says it's going to taste great it's made fresh daily,, said why not we came for a trip but honestly it was mid and this is why I don't listen to people but realistically I should've just dogged it in my opinion; understand it's Hawaii we are in a touristy spot, but too overpriced for something that tastes like yoshinoya meat and rice that tastes just like fried rice from a regular Chinese takeout

Went here with friends! The food selection and trucks they have is alright! I thought it would be…read morebigger and lots of trucks like OC night market in LA but i cant complain, the food is amazing! And love the drink i got from the truck strawberry pineapple flavor from tropics truck

I attended the 71st annual Ho'olaule'a in Waikīkī on Sat, 9/20. They block off most of Kalākaua…read moreavenue for vendors, stages for music and for food. We ate at Dick's Lechon. I had Dick's before at another festival, and really enjoyed the food. The stand was hard to miss bc of the smoke wafting and a choke (long) line. Luckily, the line moved quickly. Despite a quick shower, there was plenty of music. One of the groups was family members of Moani in IMP. They are a reggae group, and had the crowd moving to the reggae vibes. I saw a lot of vendors doing biz, so hats off to the crowd for supporting local businesses. I'll have to remember the timing of this festival, so I can enjoy it again.

A first for us as we used to only come for the parade and sit across the Moana. Hubs was very…read moreexcited so he spent about half an hour browsing what was happening on Kalakaua while I got banded and waited at the one day only Beer Garden sponsored by the Aloha Festival. Parking was convenient at the International Market Place. We came for the 6 pm special . We got a few freebies laid on the tabletops and spent $20 on two virgin drinks to get an item hubs wanted badly. Hubs returned all happy saying he bought an Aloha Festival tshirt. He excitedly shared there were craft booths. Concerned about an upcoming trip I told him I'll pass cuz I have Covid phobia, haven't caught Covid yet and maybe next year I'll brave that celebratory crowd. Instead of enjoying the merriment or getting dinner at one of several restaurants upstairs we inserted out stickered parking ticket and left Waikiki. Choice A: Side Street Inn but I pulled a fast one and drove towards King Street, University Avenue area and found an awesome place for dinner.

For this year's annual trip, we decided to visit during the week of the Honolulu Festival, which…read moretook place on March 13th-15th. Having been to Honolulu over the years, we never had the chance to partake in the festival activities. I had always thought the Festival was an event promoting Hawaiian culture but from being here, I found out his was the 30th year for this cultural event that promotes mutual understanding, economic cooperation and ethnic harmony between the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim region. Over 2,300 participants from Japan and other countries were here to participate in this Festival with events at the Convention Center, Ala Moana Shopping Center and Waikiki Beach Walk. I went to the Saturday events at the Convention Center. On the main performance stage, there were 25 various performance acts of traditional, dance, musical cheerleading, and a singing performance by Hitomi Shimitani to conclude. There were art and craft vendors and a sake and food fest section with free sample offerings. Love the sake and beer tastings, cookie and cracker tastings and a sushi making workshop. Due to the Kona storms that hit Hawaii during this week, I was disappointed that the Grand Parade and the Nagaoka Fireworks to conclude the festival were cancelled. I will plan to be back again next year for this Festival and look forward to the Parade and famous fireworks.

This year admission for adults was $10 at the door ($8 online)…read more In the past, especially last year, there were many food sample booths offering samples of different Japanese food products with none of them offering any for sale. But this year there were no samples, only food for sale, so there was no way to try it before buying which would have been helpful.

This is the 2nd time I went to MIH (Made in Hawaii) and this time was better (personally for me)…read more Here are two tips I highly recommend BEFORE you attend. 1. Plan to go later in the day I went around 2:00ish and the line to get in was only 5 minutes long. I also bought my tickets ahead time to expedite the process of getting checked in. 2. DO YOUR RESEARCH I highly recommend researching which vendors are going and what booth they will be at. Once you get that information, look at the map and make a route. Then once you hit all the places you want to go to you can explore. I feel like people get so overwhelmed from not knowing where to go.. So honestly, just research ahead of time and make your life easier!! I kind of wish they made time-slots like during COVID time to avoid overcrowding, but I guess to each their own.

I live in Hawaii, so what is the point of going to the MADE IN HAWAII Festival?…read more Right??? Took place in the Honolulu Convention Center this year. Tickets were $8/adult. Thought I'd save on online service fees by purchasing in person, but it was CARD ONLY, and still had to pay the extra fees! What's the point of having people there then? Parking wasn't available at the Convention Center. But that's okay cause even available, $15 parking fee is steep. Just park at Ala Moana and walk over. There were quite a lot of vendors, and it was crowded. The middle sections were quite tight and just not enough space for people trying to walk through, and for people who were shopping. I can't count how many times you're just stopped and waiting to go around because someone in front stopped to look (while some just stopped to talk and didn't have any consideration that they're in the middle of the aisle and in the way of everyone). Overall, it's a nice event for vendors to showcase their products, and $8 tickets is a good deal for convention center events. I purchased several items, with some I found being sold in regular stores (and for less), but discovered new products that were very good, such as the Aloha Bakehouse coffee and homemade Spicy Chili Oil from Maui.

Been going here since I was younger and it's one of my favorite places to get Filipino desserts!…read moreIt's always fun walking around the market seeing all the fresh vegetables, seafood, meats, specialty products, and food stands. They accept credit card (usually for purchases over $10) and you can withdraw cash from the ATM out front. It's kept clean and stays busy on the weekends, and it's great hearing the community of all ages gathered here

My friends took me to this market. To my surprise, it was an indoor farmers' market!!!! They had…read moreall of your tropical fruits and vegetables like parda, pako, chayote leaves, etc. Yes! They had soursop for $1.99/lb! I bought a small and a large one, so sweet. They even had Filipino foods there. I had an Ilocos empanada. I never knew this empanada existed. It was so good dipped in garlic vinegar. I have to say, I'm so glad my friends brought me here since it was hard to find a farmers' market near Ko'Olina. Mahalo!

Make a plan for Spam Jam. That's my advice to get the most out of this event. It's always fun, but…read moreit gets crowded quickly, so what I do is look at the list of vendors and check out what they'll be offering ahead of time. I even go to their Instagram because a lot of times they will show pictures and describe the items in more detail. So then I have a plan going into Spam Jam of the things that are must-eat and then the "maybe I'll get this if I have room" stuff. This year, I really wanted funnel cakes, which had been listed online as part of the menu, but when I got to that vendor's tent, there were no funnel cakes, just spiral potatoes, gandules, and some other things. So no funnel cake for me. I kind of hate when the listing online shows things that will be there that are not even offered when you get there. I did get delicious hula pie topped with candied Spam from Duke's along with a teriyaki katsu sandwich from Duke's, which was interesting because it had both pineapple tidbits as well as raisins (?!) but the raisins kind of oddly worked. My favorite was Il Gelato's caramel Spam gelato topped with Spam toffee, which was delicious! There are several Il Gelato locations near my place so I will be checking them out later on for sure. I also enjoyed birria tacos from Skybox Taphouse. I got the queso birria tacos for $9 for 2 tacos, which I thought was reasonable. My husband got the two "hellfire" tacos for $14 which were (1) too hot for me and (2) I couldn't tell why they were $5 more than my tacos. Other than the heat and including two large jalapenos, I couldn't tell what inside them merited a $5 increase. A fun time hopefully had by all. We enjoyed our celebratory day of Spam!

A great event, with lots of retail and food booths, supported by specialty Spam dishes at various…read morerestaurants, roaming photo ops, entertainment, and happy people. Hawai'i Foodbank also thanks everyone for their support! We arrived a tad late, it was a busy day - so we just missed the drone show, and most spam specialties were sold out. Those that weren't still had long lines, so YAY it was a success! This was our first time at the Waikiki Spam Jam, and we were happy to miss the super big crowd. We just wanted to check this out, and we're very glad we did! Mahalo to all the volunteers, vendors, security, and HPD for helping create and make this a wonderful and safe event for everyone to enjoy!!!

This year was the first time I got to attend the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Festival. I've always…read morebeen meaning to go but it was always hard to find parking. This year, I made it a point to park at Ala Moana with my mom and walk to the beach about 30 min. before the event started. To be really close to the shore and find an area to sit at, I wouldn't surprised if you people had to come at least 2-3 hours in advance, especially since they hand out the free lanterns earlier in the day. In terms of things I recommend you bring, just bring what you usually would when you want to chill at the beach: sunscreen, hat/sunglasses, light clothing, beach mat and non-alcoholic drinks + food! It was so cool to see how they had different performances (hula and taiko from what I remember). They have giant screens with subtitles at the bottom so everyone can hear/see what's going on. You can also see how much love that people have for their loved ones that have passed on through this event. It's very touching.

It was my first time coming to the lantern festival and this event was so special and was put…read moretogether so beautifully. I didn't have to stand in line for a lantern since someone else got it for me. The line started at 10am and from what I heard they still had about 2k lanterns left around 3pm. Ala Moana beach is generally NOT dog friendly at all and they've been cracking down on citations ($200) if you have your dog at this park. Luckily all the police officers were so nice for this event and allowed it as an exception (I suppose). There was also other people that brought their dogs with them too. I was on the other hand extra cautious knowing that my son isn't supposed to be there so I tried my best to hide him in a bag nonetheless, I'm so happy that they allowed them to be with us because we were there to honor our dog, Nala that night. We parked at the mall and walked over - at about 530 there was still a good amount of space on the sand, but then the entire beach was packed around 615 or so. We decided to stay where we were and still got a good bite of the screen. However only the main screen above the stage was on during 615-630 when they had a performer prior to the event. The program itself was so beautiful and so organized. I found out that her holiness was actually equivalent to the pope. I've also never seen a taiko performance with background music like that before. It was simply amazing and so touching. We got to launch our lanterns around 7pm. There was a lot of people. Some stayed put and some went into the water. It was cordial despite the amount of people that was there. There are people with lighters for your candle but if you already have one with you would be handy too I also lost a slipper to the ocean that night but luckily a nice man found it and gave it back to me ....

Celebrating Okinawan culture in Honolulu, Hawaii…read more.. This year, the 42nd Annual Okinawan Festival was held at the Hawaii Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, August 31, and September 1, 2024. Admission fee was $10 for adults; $5 for seniors (age 65+); and free for children age 12 and below We parked for free at Ala Moana Center and walked over. I really didn't want to go. I used to work at the Festival when I was a member of the Hawaii United Okinawan Association (HUOA) because I played in their volleyball league. Our volleyball league ran the Children's Game Booths at Kapiolani Park. We had to get there early to set up and stay late to clean up. It was labor intensive! I have stress just remembering those times... My former co-worker really wanted to go to the Festival. She had purchased A LOT of script from her neighbor who was part of the Live Entertainment. My friend texted me several times and called me to discuss where to meet. She bribed me to go by telling me she was going to give me some script and pay for my Admission Fee... LOL! So... I went... It wasn't as bad as I remembered! The air conditioning, convenient restrooms, and excellent organization made it pleasant! Maybe the challenge was the line for script. There seemed to be only one place to buy script, and it was far away from the food booths. My friend had so much script that she sold some to strangers on our table - she overheard their conversation! As a visitor to the Festival (not as a worker), I was able to wander through the Craft Area, walk past the plants for sale and the Children's Games, stand in line for food, browse through the Country Store, and enjoy the Live Entertainment! It was nice that there were tables and chairs for customers to sit and dine-in! We didn't sign up for the special art demonstration where you can make traditional art... maybe we can do that next year!

Celebrating the culture…read more.. No one does it like the Okinawan Festival as this year they've done it again and what an amazing event. Keeping at the Hawaii Convention Center is a real struggle to get to though the cool air conditioned venue with lots of seating provided to watch the entertainment and to enjoy your foodie feast does make it a fun and festive place to celebrate it all. In the past it has been outdoors at Kapiolani Park which in my opinion was much more difficult to enjoy it all so this is a refreshing chance of scenery and this year it's all in one level so you don't need to find the various rooms upstairs to shop for the merchandise and view the historic background of it all. The countless volunteers and groups made it a fun for all ages as we actually wanted to play some of the children's games shows how fun it truly was. I did get to peek in the Awamori Garden which was lovely oasis to get an adult sip along with some exclusive snacks found only in that area though with countless areas to browse including the craft section it was a great experience and can't wait for 2025. Thank you!

When I was in Las Vegas a few months ago, The Love Festival was called to my attention because of…read moreall the unusual costumes. There were many young women dressed in tutus, neon colors, floral garlands, headbands, fuzzy leg warmers, stuffed animal backpacks, and short shorts. Automobiles with license plates from different states were also decorated with neon paint and the words "Love Festival". At that time, I was busy studying at a conference, so I didn't have time to check it out. Thanks to Yelp Hawaii and our outstanding CM, Emi, my friends and I were able to obtain free tickets to the Hawaii Love Festival at Kakaako Waterfront Park! It was a fun and educational experience! I did not know that this Festival has been around for 16 years! I did not know that there were 4 different stages (we only sat at one). I did not know that tickets ranged from $40 to $50, $60, $75 and $125 for VIP. The Event was to start at 7pm. My friends and I jumped in to one car and caught a ride to the Park. There was a line already formed before 6:45pm. We read the signs that no food was allowed. Being the good, thrifty Pakes, we quickly devoured the food we had packed and drank our bottled water. However, free water was distributed inside the Festival to prevent dehydration. We didn't really need the water because there was a cool, gentle breeze and the sun had gone down by that time. The line moved along at a steady pace. The first security stop was for ticket collection. We got our first wrist band there. They also searched our bags for food and weapons. We were all asked for our ID's at the next stop. The people under 21 went through a separate line and the rest of us received a second wrist band. Very organized!! Inside, there were many vendors selling snacks, caps, shirts, neon items, shades, etc. We found a safe place on a grassy hill and sat on our towels and beach mats. We were able to observe all the great dance moves by the audience and the awesome scaffolded stage-like structure. It was a huge cube-like audio-visual smoke machine with colorful lighting. The young people sang along to songs I had never heard! Hahaha! Overall, we had a great time and we would go again next year! Thanks again to Emi and Yelp Hawaii for this special opportunity!!

When I first heard about this festival I thought I would not being going. The idea of spending a…read morelot on a ticket and being unsure if it'd be worth it is not one of my favorite thoughts. Thank you to Yelp for the tickets, I went and thoroughly enjoyed myself! I would definitely go back in the future. To start, this event was in my favorite park in Honolulu, Kaka'ako near Ward Centres and right on the waterfront. The hills made the perfect venue to have multiple stages that didn't interfere (sound-wise) with one another. Walking toward the park that night, I could hear music and see multi-colored spotlights shining on the clouds. The entrance was organized and there were plenty of bouncers to point the way. There was practically no line to get in. Tickets were also available for purchase at the door. My guest and I spent the majority of the time in the 21+ section, which had a full service bar including special cocktails for the event. The portions ended up being generous and the bartenders were very fun and friendly. The main stage was a visual feast- bright colors, smoke, lasers, and bubble machines. Some DJs were better than others- I liked the guy from Amsterdam the best. There was free water available, and countless portapotties in the center of the park- I never had to wait, always many open. The park's many grassy areas offered plenty of places to stand, dance, or lay down and watch the stars. The ocean was close as well. All in all, I loved this event; it's great for people of all ages and interests!

Did ya know that the Honolulu City Light started back in da mid-80's?…read more The tradition started back in 1985, it was an idea from the honorable Frank F. Fast (da BESTEST Honolulu mayor)! A little history about this wonderful event - https://www.honolulucitylights.org/our-story#:~:text=1985,Honolulu%20City%20Lights%E2%80%9D%20Is%20Born From a simple 50 foot Christmas tree that was installed on the courtyard of Honolulu Hale back in 1985.........through the years this holiday event has greatly expanded with a lot more holiday displays to see. One of the most iconic displays on the Honolulu Hale courtyard is the "Shaka" Santa, & Tutu Mele. The event is free, and there are numerous holiday displays on the courtyard, as well as inside of Honolulu Hale. Shout out to the hard working city workers who take the time to put up the holiday displays, as it takes a lot of time to do this. The holiday displays are usually put up around Thanksgiving time, with a big Christmas tree lighting ceremony event on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. The holiday display stays here for about a month, then it is usually taken down after the new year. Loved by locals, as well as visitors, if you're ever visiting da 808 in December, don't miss out! Make da trip down to Honolulu Hale to see this wonderful holiday display. Merry Christmas!

The Honolulu City Lights Parade is definitely a great experience for kids, but make sure you plan…read moreahead. Parking is tough--you'll want to arrive at least an hour and a half early to find a decent spot and set up. The streets get super packed and crowded, so getting there early really makes a difference if you want a clear view of the tree and parade route. Make sure to bring snacks and drinks because the parade is pretty long. I'd say it lasted around two hours, and honestly, it could be shortened a bit. There are quite a few groups marching, including schools that aren't even from town, which felt unnecessary. On the bright side, there are some fun vendors selling glow sticks, bubble machine lights, and other light-up toys that kids love. If you continue down the road to Thomas Square, they've added even more lights, a train ride for kids, and some food options over there too. Overall, it's a pretty great experience for families, especially if you plan ahead and get settled early. Kids will definitely enjoy it!