Made in Hawaii Festival

Lost a star for parking prices. Seriously, Neal Blaisdell.
Went with low expectations because I haven’t really had many positive experiences here in the past. My friend wanted to go, and I wanted to get my mom a gift for her birthday… so we went.
$ 6 parking, but we got lucky and found a shaded/​covered spot right away. The admission fee was $ 5 per person, but we walked right in! No one asked us for a ticket.
Left the event with a jar of Lilikoi spread, and Pit Balm! I consider it a win, just because I found the Pit Balm booth! lol

Wow… so much to see and taste!!! It is a must if ya ask me… support your local businesses who have some unique items. Did not know how much was made here until I went to this event a few years back. Check it out… its awesome!!!

The Made In Hawaii Festival, held every August at the Blaisdell Arena, is my FAVORITE craft fair and expo! With a large and varied line-​up of local artists, restaurants, and businesses, you will not be able to leave empty handed! In addition to over 500 exhibitors, the Made In Hawaii festival has a schedule of performances from local musicians and performers to keep you entertained while you shop!
Great for adults and children alike, there is something to suit everyone’s tastes! (Seriously! Even my Dad enjoys the Made In Hawaii Festival!) My favorite booths always feature local jewelers and fashion designers. In past Made In Hawaii Festivals, I made sure to stop by Ginger 13 and The Cut Collective! Both booths offer fantastic deals and promotions that I have a hard time resisting!
Although held well in advance of Christmas, the Made In Hawaii Festival is far better than most Christmas craft fairs, so definitely plan to purchase gifts for your loved ones early. Or, you know, just gifts for yourself! ;)

Living on Oahu, I’ve come to love many of our local businesses and have become brand loyal to them versus a larger corporation. The Made in Hawaii Festival allows you to explore the many other local businesses that the outer islands have to offer and to build a relationship/​loyalty with those vendors as well.
The Made in Hawaii Festival has vendors who offer a wide range of products from jams to coffee to clothing to jewelry to chocolates to candles to art work to reusable totes. Basically if you can think of a need, most likely someone at the event is selling it.

This was my first time attending the festival, and it definitely won’t be my last. My «noteworthy» finds were Monkeypod Jams which are made on Kauai with fruits that are all grown on Kauai. I purchased six jars of jam and less than a week later, three are empty, and the ones purchased as gifts have been reclaimed for personal use. Their bananas foster jam is delicious as is their mango chipotle jam and the white pineapple pepper jam. Actually, everything is outstanding. If you’re on Kauai, go there, and if you’re not, just find them on Instagram.
I also loved the opportunity to grab some t-​shirts and tanks from the Maui vendors Paradise Now Hawaii and 808ClothingMaui, as well as the chocolate from Madre, pumpkin and chocolate mochi, and cookies from someone I can’t recall. Yea, I spent WAY more than expected. Ooops!
And who can forget the highlight of the festival, Critterman Chuck… I mean really, how much did that man pay for his booth filled with «real Hawaiian souvenirs» aka paperweights with dead roaches and centipedes inside? Yuck yuck yuck.
Some tricks we learned:
1. Enter the parking lot from Kapiolani to avoid wanting to scream in your car for hours.
2. Don’t purchase lots of jam as your first purchase, your back will hurt after walking around for three hours.
Remember, admission is $ 5 and parking is $ 6.

This has been a family tradition for quite a few years now… making time to check out the wares from businesses large and small from all over the islands. The Made in Hawaii Festival is a great showcase for all things local — from homemade food and crafts to artwork to clothing and more! Having gone a few times here’s a quick list of observations in no particular order of importance (all of which should be taken with a grain or two of locally produce artesian volcanic salt):
— get there EARLY; there are some VERY popular booths and companies that will sell out or run out of whatever they brought for the day. Case in point… I went on Friday this year (the first day it was open) and Adoboloco was already out of whatever it brought to sell/​give away.
— be prepared for a big crowd; if you don’t like the occasional push/​shove or generally touching others and breathing the same air as other people then this probably isn’t for you. It’s a mad house with everyone trying to get a good deal and get free samples of good eats.
— come hungry; there are plenty of food booths giving away samples (especially the mini ice cream cone) as well as food for purchase (can you say Waffle Dog!).
— strategize; plan on getting heavy items later because you’re going to have to lug them around the whole time.
— set a limit; my wife and I usually set a limit of $ 100 between the two of us (which doesn’t go very far considering the cost of some items — see below). Otherwise we worry we’ll feel like we just shopped at Whole Foods or something and walked out with three bags of cashews for $ 175.
— buy it now; on the other hand some stuff goes fast. Unless you know the people working the booth the vendors probably will not hold things for you. If you’re sure that it’ll be gone by the time you get back to that booth then buy it now.
— check out everything; even if you’re not interested in purchasing it’s kind of neat to see the level of creativity out there and the needs that people are trying to fill with various crafts (like mesh food pan covers!).
— wear comfortable shoes (and clothes); unless you’re willing to spend $ 5 to visit one booth you’re going to do a lot of walking. Be ready!
— drink water; the number of folks moving, shopping, and breathing make it pretty warm. It easy to get dehydrated. Bring a water bottle. There are also plenty of folks selling drinks.
— traffic; Unless you find street parking or park at Ward Center/​Warehouse (which, of course, no one wants you to do) be ready for a long line to get into the parking structure.
I hate to end on a downer but here’s one criticism — some of the stuff there is just way overpriced. Some people make things as a side gig because they need a creative outlet and have found a way to make some money from it. For others this is their primary business. I can fully respect the hand-​crafted nature of 99% of merchandise. However, asking $ 15 for a dish towel, 150% for an aloha shirt, or $ 30 for organic gluten free artisan black pepper BBQ rub turned me off a little bit. I’m saying I go in looking for a deal and to get stuff on the cheap. I’m all for supporting local business but I don’t want to be taken to the cleaners in the name of «buying local». But I digress…
Overall, this event is a lot of fun for the whole family and a great chance to see all of the great wares that local folks are making. If you missed it this year PLEASE make plans to visit next year. It’s a great time, even if you just go to check stuff out and people watch.

It was great to be able to go from booth to booth and talk to local artists and business owners about what they create. There were a ton of samples, even for well known companies, where they show cased newer products that I was unaware they offered. I can honestly say I walked away wanting to invest my money more in local companies that do a fantastic job of making some unique products. I picked up three pieces of art from the EVERYTHING IS JAKE stand which I am super excited to get up in my home as well as some food items which I’ve already been enjoying! This was my first year attending and it was way larger than I expected. It filled both sides of the blaisdell. On a side note, both sections had AC which was so amazing with how hot and muggy it has been recently. I’m ready to go again next year!

Love Love LOVE!
This was my first Made in Hawaii festival and I just fell in love. No wonder why many people skip work just to attend!
We arrived on Saturday around 5:30PM and were able to secure a parking spot in the garage ($ 7). I read reviews and tips before attending and saw that the parking lot was full for a majority of the event.
There was a short line for tickets, but we were able to enter relatively quick. Once inside, I was completely overwhelmed! Booths, vendors, food and people everywhere! It was a little chaotic. We made our way through all the booths and partook in the free samples, especially the small ice cream cone. I feet were a little sore from shuffling amongst the crowd.
I secured some really great local jewelry at a steal!

Amazing locally made items for sale, but the crowd was so overwhelming! We went on Friday, around 1pm and it was crazy busy, crawling with people. If you aren’t a fan of huge crowds, don’t go at this time.
–Everyone should DEFINITELY find the time to walk through and spend time talking to the vendors. They have great stories behind their products; I love to know how and why peole got started doing what they do.
— Bring plenty of money! There are so many cool places (and people), you’re gonna want to spend. I’ve already planned to set aside at least $ 500 for next year ;)
–If there’s something specific you’re looking for, do your research first. I found several
vendors marked up their prices from either their shops/​kiosks/​websites. Also, there are
many people selling the same items/​types of items with major price differences. Unless
money isn’t an issue, I would do a walk through before purchasing some items; especially
jewlery and children’s items.
–This was the first year I took my daughter with me, she’s 10. I think this was the perfect age
to take her, for my own sanity. I’m not saying not to bring small children because they are
irritating to me, that stuff doesn’t bother me one bit (not my kid!) For your own enjoyment,
I would try to get a sitter. That way, you can take your time without distractions or having to
rush. :D
Please take the time to support our local artisans and businesses! They are our friends, neighbors, ohana and they need us (not just tourists) to keep them going. Keep your money local!

We went on sunday which was the last day of the made in hawaii festival. It was around 1p and it was crowded. There were so many vendors and people around. I loved all the varieties of treats and gifts that was offered. We got to try a lot of things that I didn’t know where made in hawaii and also picked up some cookies and spices for the house.
It was a awesome exprience since I got to do some early Christmas shopping for the family members who are living on the mainland. If you’ve never been, you should plan to at least attend it once to appreciate and enjoy the art, treats, and gifts that hawaii has to offer.

Support local. Buy local!
This festival is great for exposing our talented local businesses to the public: tourist and locals. It’s a 3-​day event at the Neal Blaisdell Center (NBC); parking costs $ 6 and entry fee costs $ 5 (unless you visited First Hawaiian Bank to pick-​up a $ 1-​off coupon). You’re looking at paying $ 10+ alone just getting in! Pretty pricey if you ask me. Plus, the traffic getting to the NBC is horrendous!!! We came here on the Sunday around opening time (10am), and it took us forever just to get into the parking lot… no matter which way you came in from. The only advice I could give you is to arrive an hour before opening and either carpool to split the parking fees or find street parking if you’re lucky.
This year, it felt like there were a lot more vendors and a lot more food samples! haha.
While in the Exhibition Hall, of course you had to swing by the Meadow Gold booth where they were passing out free mini ice cream cones, which was perfect for a hot, humid summer day! Not to mention, there was a power outage in the Exhibition Hall, so it was HOTTT! It was really cute seeing some of the vendors holding out their fans to all the passerbys. Oh and the only room that still had AC on that side was the Pikake Room, so you know everyone was all up in that place!
At the Primo Popcorn booth, they had samples of all of their flavors, and my mom ended up buying a couple bags. While I’m not much of a popcorn fan, I fell in love with their insulate bag that cost $ 6. It was so dang cute with all the pigeon words, plus I was in need of a new lunch bag. If you spent more than $ 15, you could pay with credit cards.
There were plenty of clothing booths this year, but I wasn’t really interested in buying clothes. And I love handmade local jewelry, but I can never afford them since they’re usually pricing from $ 50+ :/​We did sample a lot of great food, and bought some taro chips and sweet potato chips from the Hawaiian Chip Company booth. My mom also bought some lilikoi butter spreads from this couple from the Big Island who were fundraising for their wedding next year. Each jar was $ 6 and OMG were the buggahs good, we wanted to buy more!
While the Exhibition Hall had most of the books, art, gifts, fashions, plants, crafts, snacks and live music in the Pikake Room; the Arena across the way had most of the food vendors, produce and hot meals for sale. Also in the arena had their cooking demos and ongoing entertainment.
In the Arena, we tried more samples. We bought new flavors not in stores yet at Diamond Bakery Hawaii. Those included their furikake crackers, sesame seed crackers and blueberry royal cream crackers! So ono! We also had to buy KC Waffle dogs since you can’t really get that anywhere. It was a fundraiser for $ 4 each. Pricey, but definitely worth it! We also made sure to catch a cooking demo, where the Executive Chef Yuta Anzai, Miyako Restaurant at The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel did a demo on cooking fish and making it into a salad. Unfortunately only those who were seated where able to try a sample. And the presentation was a bit dull as the MC was a little annoying on how he had to keep making noise while eating. Yes, we get it da buggah stay ono! lol
Overall, it was a great festival and we left satisfied with our purchases and our tummy also left satisfied haha. Can’t wait for next year’s Made in Hawaii Festival :) #luckyweliveHI

I finally made it to this festival and boy was it overwhelming! So many people and vendors! This is a wonderful place to get some Christmas shopping done… unfortunately, I couldn’t get away from buying things for myself. But do I regret it? Heck no! The only downside is that most of these vendors are more on the expensive side and they seem to be about the same price or more as their online/​retail shops. Some of them have deals going for the show though and there’s something to be said for buying things in person from the people making it! Fun festival!

First time visitor! Finally made it in. Opening Day (Fri) traffic was horrendous, so I decided to try again the following day (Sat). I’m glad I arrived an hour early! Straight shot into the parking structure ($ 6) and no line for the ticket booth ($ 5 entry). The doors didn’t open until 1000, so I fell in line for a good 45-​mins in the shade so no problem at all.
Nice welcome signage! I walked right in and it wasn’t crowded at all (crowding didn’t start until about 1130). All of the people manning their booths were very friendly, which made me want to buy everything!
There were plenty of jewelry booths, but a bit pricey for me. A set of earrings, pink sapphire stones on a gold filled hook, very beautiful, were selling for $ 95! Walking sticks, art work, beef jerky, jams, clothing, purses, cell phone cases, hats, plants, signs, swimsuits, stationery, free ice cream, Japanese textiles, key chains, and more!
I loved the clothing by A7OHA, Paradise Now (Maui), HA Wahine!!! Yummy kettle corn from Paradise Kettle Corn. Beautiful stationery by Bradley & Lily.
Really enjoyed the event. Looking forward to attending in the years to come!

Came here and it was packed. Lots of great vendor and food showing the local products.

This is my third time to the festival and of course, on this trip, opening day just happened to fall on the Hawaii State holiday! So everyone was there… aunts, uncles, cuzins, braddahs, wahines, big families, tourists, and me and my parents. We went an hour after it started and the parking lot was already full and they redirected us to McKinely High School, which my mother attended.
We started off watching one of the entertainers, Melveen Leeds. Unfortunately, she said she lost her voice and couldn’t really sing her best, and one of her students was able to sing two songs. It really wasn’t much of a show, so we left. Lots of venders and lots of people. But honestly, if you need to talk story, GET OUT OF THE AISLES!!! LOL!
Did buy a rum cake which I didn’t get to eat before I left, but the samples were really good!!! Also bought some guava smoked pork which will taste great when I cook it. But the best thing was finding the Kona Coffee Council booth which represented a number of Kona coffee farms from the Big Island. Bought several bags to bring home to the mainland. One of my favorite booths is the one that sold pidgin t-​shirts. I wore my «ejamacated» one on the first day back to school!
I love coming here to see if there’s anything new. I recognized a number of booths from before. One of my friends said everything there is expensive… but it is supporting local businesses. But it’s fun and for me, it’s cool to be around Asians and Pacific Islanders! I will be back!

The Made in Hawaii Festival Expo is quite a beast. If you want to find legit items that are made in Hawaii and for Hawaii, this is definitely the place to go for sure. The festival gives an opportunity for da real kine local businesses to showcase their products, food, items, services, etc. The festival runs from Friday to Sunday for the majority of the day. Every year it is packed as heck but it is pretty worth it because there are stacks on stacks on choke amount of booth vendors at the festival. The whole expo utilizes and occupies literally all of the exhibition hall and the arena. The entrance fee is about 5 bucks and parking is 6 bucks. I find it ironic that parking costs more than the fee of the event that you are going to itself but hey that is the nature of the belly of the beast. Parking can be quite hectic especially if you go on the busiest times of the day. Bee prepared to wait an half an hour or longer for parking at the blaisdell center if you are going to go on a Saturday afternoon, just sayin. Anyways back to the expo, the exhibition hall features majority of the retail and services section of the festival like choke clothing businesses, plants, small kine snacks, apparel, accessory shops, and many more. The arena highlights mostly the food stuff like made in Hawaii snacks, desserts, ready to made items. and many more. Throughout the festival there entertainment held in the Pikake room (yes, there are business vendors over there too). They also have cooking demonstrations in the arena. Since there is so much to see and do you can literally spend a day here looking around and sinfully shop your day away for real. You can literally do all your Christmas shopping done over here too if you want to get that out of the way and just give your family and friends made in Hawaii stuff. This is definitely a go to place to go whenever the made in Hawaii festival comes to town and for sure you should make this a part of your weekend festivities.

We got there on the opening day around 9:35am and the line was so long. There were 2 lines, one from the box office and the other from the parking garage. They gave out free bags to the first 500 ppl. Lots of booths, samples and PEOPLE. There were items from each island that you usually can’t find here in Honolulu.
First Hawaiian Bank also gave out free $ 1 off coupons which made the entrance fee $ 4, (kids were free). There were lots of strollers trying to make their way through the crowd.

Nothing makes me happier than to know that Hawaii is a place like no other. The sights, the food, the crafts, and the feeling make Hawaii a very special place to live. This weekend’s Made in Hawaii Festival definitely shows that there really is no place like home. Being the pake (aka cheapie) that I am, I had to stop at First Hawaiian Bank this week for a measly dollar off coupon for us. I was surprised to hear that I wasn’t the only one with that idea because they pretty much gave away all the dollar off coupons they had. Funny locals!
Anyway, on our Statehood Holiday, hubby and I made our way down to the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall with our dollar off coupons (while parking a few blocks away — thanks to the holiday, metered parking is free!). It was pleasantly not that crowded, but there were a good amount of people. True to form, there were tons of local products to see, taste, touch, and spend lots of money on. I do get a little underwhelmed by the amount of the same «beachy» jewelry vendors, t-​shirt companies, and cookie sellers. BUT, I realize that that’s what locals like, so why not sell them, right? I mean, I’m a creature of habit, too, and like to get my fill of Ki-​ele jewelry, Hawaiian Chip Company’s Kiawe Barbecue Taro Chips, and local treats from the neighbor islands. It’s also fun to find new local products to love like the retro artwork from EverythingisJake or the delish Hawaii’s Best Butter Mochi Mix (it’s #amaze!). Our favorite stop, though, is definitely Neal Blaisdell Center which is full of the food vendors where you can literally have a full meal trying samples upon samples. (I find it amusing when my husband is stoked and says, «Wow, you can just sample and not have to buy anything?! I’m getting full. This is great!» Funny guy.)
All in all, I am so proud of being from this tiny section of planet Earth that we call home. We have unique treats, creations, and all kinds of stuff that keeps us local and proud. For as long as it’s possible, I hope we keep Hawaii, Hawaii.

I have been faithfully attending the Made In Hawaii Festival every year since 2003 because I believe this fair is such a great way of showcasing our local products and encouraging everyone to buy local. Hawaii has long been known to be one of the toughest states to do business in and this event encourages and fosters entrepreneurship. Also, this a great opportunity for local businesses across the island chain to showcase all that they have to offer and create new connections.
The Festival showcases clothing, jewelry, art, crafts, plants, and… FOOD! All vendors must produce their products locally in order to participate, so you know everything there is made in Hawaii. The event is hosted in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and Arena, so wear your comfy shoes! There is also great entertainment scheduled in the Pikake Room and live cooking demonstrations in the arena.
I think the best part of the Made In Hawaii Festival is the opportunity to see different locally made items and talk to the vendors. So many of the vendors are «mom and pop» operations and it is always good to support our local small businesses. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to vendors about their art work, pieces of jewelry, or detectables. It’s always a pleasure.
So, why only 4 stars rather than 5 stars? Essentially, it is not the vendors or the organizers that downgrade my rating, it is the some of the customers who attend the event. Unfortunately, there are a few customers who can dampen the experience, especially when free samples of food are available. For example, McDonald’s of Hawaii is passing out free mini ice cream cones made with Meadow Gold milk. While most people waited in line (which by the way was moving fairly fast), one lady cut in line by shoving her way in and then asked for four mini cones for her and her kids. Not only was this rude, it was totally unnecessary. I’ve also seen people intentionally block other customers from looking at products they are looking at. Rude!
Despite this, the Made In Hawaii Festival is a must-​do! I just have to tell myself to not let some rude customers ruin a wonderful event!

I LOVE this festival! Second year attending (actually went 2 separate days this year!) and I highly recommend it to all my fellow military members for a one-​stop-​shop-​a-​thon of all things Hawaii! I really enjoy sampling all the different foods and a perfect venue to do some early holiday shopping for mainland friends and family. I have found some of my favorite local companies and have actually tracked them down in order to restock on products!
Some tips for all attendees:
Park at the blaisdell, arrive early or late in the day for best availability. Early and you wait in the long line to get in the door but you also catch lots of booths fully stocked. Late afternoon and you skip a lot of the morning crowd. Go on Sunday and many booths are offering specials because they don’t want to have to pack up/​ship home their wares. ;)
It’s family friendly but that still doesn’t make it a perfect place to bring your double-​wide stroller with 2 other kids in tow. Most kids get bored quickly AND it tends to be very crowded in each row with the dual flows of traffic being bottle-​necked for every food sampling booth. Much much easier to navigate if you can get out without the kids.
Bring lots of cash! cash is fast and easy but most booths will accept card anyways. Carry a tote bag (or three if you’re like me). Pack a water bottle and snacks. I’m very surprised there isn’t a better system for buying lunch, do they figure you’re eating so many samples you won’t need real sustenance? With the popularity and variety of food trucks, wouldn’t it be beneficial to let them set up nearby?

Wow, way toooo many people. It was great they had the food on the arena side. Spent a whole hour and a half just milling through like robots.
PARKING, it was my lucky day found on street parking, a little walk however just warming up the appetite. It was a good thing though, because the Blaisdell lot was FULL!
FOOD: Wow, I guess their is so many new vendors I didn’t know where to start. Some of my favorites, I couldn’t get company names cause you had to move, move, move! Chocolate covered garbanzo beans, friend green tomatoes, and the UGLY cookie. Last but not least the GUAVA SMOKED PORK; see my Unilocaly picture. Recently Scott (and Dad) won 1^st place in «Up in smoke» contest for the pork division. The smoked pork is tender, juicy and has the right balance of saltiness and sweetness, with the right amount of fat (hey you need fat to burn fat right?) it comes in mild or spicy-​the spicy is my favorite!
He has also branched out with pork burgers (i got some will try!!), turkey tails and salmon.
Sorry didn’t make it to the crafts side! It’s all about the food. =)P