Thousands attend opening day of Made in Hawaiʻi

Thousands attend opening day of Made in Hawaii

by: Bryce Moore

Posted: Aug 23, 2024 / 05:13 PM HST

Updated: Aug 23, 2024 / 09:07 PM HST

HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Made in Hawaii festival kicked off at the Convention Center on Friday, Aug. 23 and thousands turned out to get their hands on some local goodies from around the state.

The Convention Center was absolutely packed on the opening day of the 30th annual Made in Hawaii Festival. It is the perfect event for Mana Up, a company that works to get more local businesses more exposure.

“We have about 40 of them here in Made in Hawaii,” Mana Up program manager Craig Perkins-Shiraishi said. “It’s huge just because there’s so many people here. We love to really focus on our companies and the different entrepreneurs that are here on islands and really sharing their products.”

Belly Rub Kitchen’s booth makes dehydrated pet treats with no added preservatives.

“We make them here locally in Sand Island,” said Belly Rub Kitchen owner Derek Lee, “we do local producers. So, the beef would be Big Island beef. Our ahi comes from auction ahi.”

There is lots of food, clothing, accessories and even mulch from stockpiled eucalyptus trees shipped in from the Big Island — with approval from the Department of Agriculture, of course.

“We’re actually blowing the chips straight into a container so they’re not touching the ground. Then we’re taking them from that container and right into the bag,” Stargazer Industries Hawaii owner Christine Kaehuaea said. “So, every bag is pure. And like I said, the inspectors are working with us and walking with us in that process so they’ll be making sure that we’re doing that because we don’t want to transport anything anywhere.”

All of the vendors will be at the Convention Center through Sunday, Aug. 25 and said they have been looking forward to the festival all year long.

“Oh, it’s been wonderful I mean, people come from all over the country, I believe, definitely from all over the state. Myself, I’m from Kona on the Big Island, this is my first time enjoying this event,” Kona Coffee Totes owner Kerry Colvin said.