Went to the Made in Hawai’i Festival to eat the free samples. (There’s actually a $4 admission fee.) This is one of the largest events at the Blaisdell Center, using both the arena as well as the exhibition hall. There were food items, coffee, jewelry, clothing, art, woodwork, and live entertainment. Everything is local. Here’s the massive list of exhibitors.

They were expecting 35,000 attendees over the course of the weekend. I didn’t expect all 35,000 to show up at the same time. The place was jam packed! It was a miserable experience for me, not being able to rush up & down each aisle. Definitely not my “cup of tea.”

For those who do enjoy going to craft fairs, this one must have been made in heaven….

Neither! Farmers’ Market!!

We have the Farmers’ Market across the street (at the Blaisdell Center) every Wednesday from 4-7 P.M. It’s another cool thing about living at 909 (that’s my building in the pic.) And there’s more than just local produce. There’s Big Island Abalone, local honey, plants & orchids, snack foods, food booths, spices, and lots of free samples. We need to support our local farmers.

I had the shrimp scampi w/ mushrooms for dinner and a glass of fresh ginger ale from PacifiKool. I also took home a bag of nalo greens.

Pretty cool way to spend the afternoon. Lemme know if you’re in the hood….