If your trip to Maui includes the first Friday of the month, make sure you visit "Wailuku First Friday"! Basically it's a community block party that features great music, great food, great vendors, and tons of fun! They close down a two-block stretch of street, turn on the festive lights, and start the music! There are many food choices available; food trucks, fundraiser food booths featuring filipino, Chinese, Greek, Mexican, etc., so you won't go hungry. You'll be jiving down the street to the lively music...and you won't be the only ones! You'll find street vendors selling their wares, but do yourself a favor and step into many of the brick-and-mortar storefronts and support their businesses as well. I stopped into Ceci Chennault Studio featuring Aloha Maui Creations and purchased the cutest "Maui" pillow! Each succeeding Friday a different town hosts the party. Lahaina hosts "Second Friday", Makawao hosts "Third Friday", and Kihei hosts "Fourth Friday". We went to the Lahaina event but it wasn't even close to being as much fun as Wailuku's. Step away from the tourist traps and visit this cool local happening! read more

Wailuku First Friday - Good food, good music, great fun! - Festivals Near Me - Wailuku, Hawaii

I love coming to Wailuku First Friday! So many things to buy. So many food to try. Today we got hot dogs from Kaeo kine grindz, she's absolutely sweet. She has the best service ever! We also got popcorn tako from Pupus on Da Go! Those guys are awesome too. Always kind service we receive. Follow both of them on Instagram to see where they'll be next! read more

Wailuku First Friday - Kaeo_kine_grindz - Festivals Near Me - Wailuku, Hawaii

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I've been to Wailuku First Friday a handful of times over the years. This is the original town party that started all the town parties (Maui Friday's) around the island. Every FIRST Friday of the month in Wailuku town you'll find a collective of vendors that range from food trucks to arts and crafts to clothing to sweet, delectable treats. There's a little bit of everything so do walk around a bit first before deciding to make your purchases. Many of the brick & mortar businesses in and around Market St. where the party is held also remain open like Wai Bar, Wailuku Coffee Company, 808 On Main, & even Mystery Maui. This event is such a great opportunity to support local owned, Maui businesses. So far, my favorite finds are Only Ono Barbecue, HI Thai food truck, & the infamous Moloka'i Bread (technically not Maui, but Maui County!) which sometimes makes an appearance here. They also have live entertainment on both ends of the street and another section where you'll often find people line dancing or doing Zumba. One thing to keep in mind is that this is a really popular town party. There is a large municipal parking lot located up the street from the Banyan Tree. Although the lot is large, it often fills up quickly. People sometimes resort to making their own parking in the patches of grass, but street parking is also an option. Just be sure to plan accordingly! I highly recommend making a stop here at least once. You're guaranteed to find good food, good entertainment, and a lively crowd. read more

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Not as great as it has been in the past. The garlic noodles with chicken saved this review from a 2 to a 3 star. I had the banana lumpia something i love to eat. It was so dry. Partly the banana type and partly lacking the traditional slather of honey. I bought 6 so pretty bummed out. I only ate 1. The music. One band and something else they may have been karaoke, im not really sure but it was happening near the thai take out van. No traditional Hawaiian music. I guess i have been spoiled with local favorites in the past. Only 1 option for baseball caps by a company called solid. I was hoping to pick up some hats from 50th or Fam or something familiar like that for gifts on the mainland . Will try again next month hoping for local traditional music. Also if you like to drink the bar Wai was poppin. read more

3.5 stars. We've been coming to this event nearly every month for the past 4 years, but ever since December 2015, we took an almost 6 month hiatus due to changing life situations. The first and original Maui Friday event is still going on, but unfortunately not going on strong. I'm not sure what the problem is, but food vendor quantity has dwindled significantly, which means selection and variety have fallen as well, which results in less attendance overall. There are some loyal, original vendors still present such as Uptown Chevron, Asian Star, Saigon Cafe, T and J's, Kettle Corn King, Sumo Dogs, Maui Samosas, and the pastele people. Recent newcomers like Al's BBQ Pit, Three's Food Truck, and Maui Gyros are hanging on as well. Unfortunately absent are Badua's Crepes, the garlic noodle people, and any form of burger sales. BEER GARDEN: The beer garden is still the highlight of the event, for our gang anyway. It's our time to have a few brews, eat, and mingle with others. To be honest, there is no restaurant or bar on the isle that has this laid back vibe that offers outdoor ambiance with food, drinks, and entertainment all-in-one. The posters say their hours are from 5:00 pm - 9:30 pm but they never open on time. This last time we went, (June 2016) they didn't open until close to 6:15pm. They had a DJ playing a mix of genres though the poster stated "disco music." Also on this one particular night they did a special with craft beers, adding 3 types of canned beer, which tasted horrible to some of us, along with the usual Stella Artois but minus Shock Top and Bud Light. Wine is also available. ENTERTAINMENT: They still have the main stage near the Maui Thing store, and the smaller stage under the banyan tree. The acts rotate, and some new ones are brought in as well. CRAFT BOOTHS: I'm not a shopper of these but from walking down Market Street, there aren't as many as before. FOOD: Shoyu Chicken - Uptown Chevron - This wasn't just some boring old shoyu chicken. These were some awesomely delicious skin-on, bone-in thighs that were super tender and full of flavor. It came with a scoop of rice which I asked them to pour some of the broke-da-mouth drippings over which they happily did, and a scoop of some pretty legit potato macaroni salad. You can also pick this up at their food mart. Highly recommended. Steak & Scallops - Teppanyaki 2 Go - Yay, finally a new vendor! My $14 plate of well-done, thick cut cubes of steak were really tasty, and came with two thick seared scallops. For $3 I got garlic fried rice that wasn't garlicky at all, but did have bits of sautéed onions and Portuguese sausage mixed in which brought up the flavor level. Nice addition to FF. OVERALL: Smaller in every possible way. We'll still patronize but not monthly. read more

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Wailuku's First Friday is held on Market Street in Wailuku. The road is shut down, and the streets are filled with locals, tourists, vendors, merchants, and entertainers. It was wonderful to see Wailuku come to life. Today there was live music on two stages. Both featured very talented entertainers (I missed the names but I got my hips moving). The streets had festive lights, and we stopped by a few vendors and stores. The food trucks there lined up next to Mystery Maui building. I saw flatbread pizza, gyros, tacos, hawaiian plate, Opakapaka, poi mochi, Thai food, Indian food, Kettlecorn, cotton candy, and Saigon Cafe. We already ate so we shared hot Poi Mochi. We stopped by Green Ti for essential oils, picked up our Festival of Aloha buttons, checked out Maui Thing and supported the Wailuku Community Association by buying an insulated bottle, and checked out the local vendors. Wai Bar is available if you want alcohol. We had a lot of fun, but wish there were more vendors to check out. Parking is tight so be patient and don't get crazy. The area can be a little rough so go in groups and be aware of your surroundings. read more

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A cant miss, fun time to mix with locals and gain insight. Dont miss the record store as you stroll around the downtown! read more

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Good times, great food, and great people. The beer garden is fun too except at last month's First Friday, when we got to the beer garden they were out because their beer got stolen. And if I remember correctly, a whole van with their beer got stolen. Craziness! So MPD was out back with beer garden organizers and the beer garden was only serving wine. We felt so bad for them. It was still fun nonetheless. Always a great time! read more

I came here for First Friday while I was in Maui. The street was closed off and there were a bunch of street vendors there with all kinds of goodies. Parking was a bit difficult. The lots were full so we just drove up the street and walked a bit. It was raining pretty hard when we were there, but we enjoyed every bit of it, even though we were getting drenched. We looked around at the different vendors. We probably would've relaxed and stayed out there longer if it weren't for the rain. As for the food there, it was awesome! There were so many different options! I just wanted to try all of them, but we couldn't. There's a banyan tree there and a bunch of picnic tables, if you need a place to eat. It was definitely worth stopping by, being able to see a bit of the local arts and crafts and foods. read more

By far our favorite Friday. Always a good time. Live music in the street and food trucks. How can you go wrong. Can get busy but if it is it's because the entertainment is awesome that night. Have seen some great local talent here. Sean at the frame shop is super sweet and we love getting his cards to send to friends. Yes we still write letters to our friends back mainland. We seem to prefer food trucks under the banyan tree but plan to work our way around. Kettle corn guy at this location is the best! Always get a bag for the night and one for the weekend. You will not regret it. Yum. If you are looking for a super fun date, this is it. All ages. Bring your dog too! It's pet friendly!! Mitzi of Maui loves going. read more

Love LOVE Wailuku First Friday. Dare I even say it is the best "Friday event out there..." Tons of food options. Fun music area to watch break dancers. Cute clothes for sale. Great atmosphere. Hip beer garden. Awesome live music. Lots of people. This place is a party let me tell ya. The food is what really got me going, of course :) I got a huge plate filled with noodles, chicken, beef, and spring rolls for $7 say whaaaat?! It was from a cute little Filipino food stand and I really wish I remembered the name of it. Boo. But I ate the whole dang thing with no ragrets because the price and the food was to die for. The boyfriend tried a few items from the two food trucks, and everything was YUM! Dinos & Threes were there, and we are big fans of both!! Our newest love at Wailuku First Friday was the stand Sunbucha, offering (obviously) kombucha!! They had a large variety of flavors, from lilikoi, pineapple, mango, and even lavender. The man running the booth was so sweet and let us try whatever we want. We loved it so much we even bought a mason jar of the pineapple to take home. :) everything we tried was crisp, smooth, and refreshing, everything you want when you're drinking a cup of fermented goodness!! Thanks Wailuku First Friday for all of the fun. See you next month! read more

Good fun, music, and grinds. Some nights is crowded especially when there's a great band or fashion show, most nights it's just the right mix of Maui people. It's a nice event for Tourons to actually stop being afraid and get out of your steel coffin (rent a car) and touch, dance, eat, listen, have fun on Maui all in one spot. read more

My husband and I went there and had an amazing time. Everyone was so kind and welcoming to us. Was nice to be able to sample a variety of different food and find out what you really like. Met a local officer who was just as kind and gave us a little history of the Friday fun evenings. This's as the first one to start the others. Love the vibe and 2 stages with live music. Would go back again. Only down fall is parking street parking is available and parking lot behind Market St. was very full but free if you find a spot. read more

Must stop event during your visit to Maui! Great food, music, and venders. We even got to see the breakdancers performing. Try the Filipino food stand if you get a chance. Parking an be a little sparse, so I would suggest arriving early. read more

We arrived around 6 PM which is when the party started. There were lots of food vendors, several food trucks, and jewelry, pastry vendors. One lady was doing chair massages for $10 for 10 minutes. Husband had one and said is was good. We ate from a food vendor selling pork and veggies. My only complaint was that it was not served hot. We would have had more success buying from a food truck as they generally cook it fresh. Food is reasonably priced. Get there early to get a parking place in the lot between Market Street and Church Street, It's free. read more

Best thing to do on the first Friday of the month. We go every month. Our favs, T Ann J pork adobo (to the left near maui sporting goods), garlic noodles (under the banyan tree), D's bake shoppe stuffed mochi, M Bakery... Get the peanut buddies (gluten free peanut butter cookies with black salt, YUM!!!!!) everything else the bakery whips up is awesome too, chocolate coconut macarons, sandy beach (lilikoi mac nut bars), everything is super yummy. Lots of local vendors selling clothing, jewelry, everything.... Entertainment is usually awesome. Shops are open late to, maui thing always has cute clothes. read more

Food is great! Music is great! Every first Friday is great! Such a family friendly event! I love the music! Once in a while they'll sing a book to the kids! Sooo cute! (Depends who's singing that day). Overall such a good place to check out if your hungry on the first Friday of the month and have nothing to do! Get out, eat, walk and dance a little! read more

Always a fun time. Great food vendors and the music is good. Don't miss this monthly celebration.