The Made in Hawaii Festival

Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in a decade and a half. I went to the Made in Hawaii Festival, the first one I’ve been to since 1995. It continues today and tomorrow, so you haven't missed it ... yet.

I vaguely remember the inaugural festival, and I have to say it sure has grown. This year, they filled up the Blaisdell Arena and the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, leaving ample wiggle room in the aisles for lots of people.

And boy, were there a lot of people. They said in their publicity that they expected upwards of 35,000 people (mostly likely more) who are willing to shell out a miniscule admission fee of only $3. Why, the food samples alone are worth double that amount.

I’ve taken to attending events such as this in the past couple of years, since my retirement and since I’ve been blogging. It gives me something to write about – it’s fertile ground for blog post ideas.

I didn’t stay for any of the entertainment and/or cooking demonstrations, but it still took me more than an hour and a half just to navigate through the exhibits – wiggling here, side-skipping there, stopping for several minutes, detouring at times, and generally trying hard not to get stepped on.

Going to an exhibition like this one isn’t easy on the feet or the stamina. If there was a wheelchair or baby stroller in the aisle, I was the one right behind it. Good thing there were samples of all sorts of carbohydrates being offered or I would have fainted from low blood sugar. And thank God for the girls on the concourse who were giving melon samples that were cold and as refreshing as a cup of soda.

I usually stop and chat with people in booths, but at some point I was feeling woozy (all the oxygen was being sucked up by the crowd) and just wanted to get out of there.

However, when I was on my way back out, trying to negotiate my way behind some very elderly women, I heard my name being called. It was Beryl, one of my high school classmates! Hadn’t seen her since a couple of reunions ago. So we started chatting (causing a traffic jam on our side of the aisle, I’m sure), when who should appear but Iris, another classmate.

More hugs, more chatting. Good thing I didn’t decide to leave five minutes earlier or I would have missed them altogether.

Now, it would be nice to say that my car was parked nearby and I could just jump in and drive away, but I wasn’t even parked there. When I had arrived about an hour after the festival opened, the parking lot was full, and there wasn’t even any street parking for blocks.

What I had to do was drive home and ask the wife to drop me off, then come pick me up when I’d had enough and called her. And that’s what we did.

I snapped a few dozen pictures, and it wasn’t until I got back outside that I noticed a sign prohibiting photography inside the festival. Oops! I messed up, didn’t I?

Anyway, here are a few of the totally "illegal" pictures I took. At least I am able to share them with you, all made in Hawaii (products AND my photography):

Beautiful Photography

Hand-Crafted Jewelry

Beauty Products

Maui Jams and Jellies

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes

Spam-Flavored Macadamia Nuts

Gorgeous Colorful Lamps

People, People, and MORE People

Well, there it is. My feet hurt, my eyes are blurry, I got sunstroke waiting to be picked up afterwards, and I needed a drink of iced water badly. But I sure had fun!

(I think I’ll skip it next year.)