Your Weekend: The Best Family Events-July 18, 2019

Enter your child in our Cover Kids Search and eat, play in a garden lit up at night, explore space in film and interactive activities and listen to Jake Shimabukuro for free.

Best of Honolulu Festival

There is only one place where you can try local sausages from Butcher & Bird, ulu hummus from Ulu Mana; shop for locally made sunglasses, jewelry and clothing; spin a wheel for prizes; enter to win $100 amazon.com gift cards; pick up a limited edition collaboration T-shirt by HONOLULU Magazine and VH07V, known as Aloha Revolution; and enter our 2020 Cover Kids Search for free. The Best of Honolulu Festival, presented by American Savings Bank, is Saturday at Honolulu Hale. Park in the covered underground garage (and remember where your space is, it’s easy to get lost, believe us) and let the kids run around the grassy grounds to sample food, dance to the live music from the Southwest Airlines stage or take a spin on the rides in the Dave & Buster’s Keiki Zone. Click here for our tips for our biggest event of the year.

SEE ALSO: 7 Tips for a Winning Cover Kids Entry

Midsummer Night’s Gleam

Let’s address this right away; it will be crowded. This free illuminating event at Foster Botanical Garden has only gained in popularity since we started writing about it a few years ago. But if you are prepared to wait in line for activities (like most free family events) and have a plan for parking, the grounds of the garden are magical. Keiki will have fun just wandering around the paths lit up with thousands of luminaries. Call your friends who have parking downtown, go early or, this year, pay $3 for parking nearby and make sure your phone is charged. You will want to take photos. Find out more about the activities, food and our nine tips for this summer-only event in our Inside Guide: 2019 Midsummer Night’s Gleam.

  • All ages
  • Free
  • Saturday, July 20. 4 to 9 p.m. Kids activities end at 6:30 p.m.
  • Foster Botanical Garden, 180 N. Vineyard Blvd.
  • (808) 522-7060
  • honolulu.gov/parks/hgb.html

‘Ukulele Festival

Best of HONOLULU Family-winning ukulele master Roy Sakuma’s festival is a musical day in the park. Starting at 10:30 a.m., 16 ‘ukulele-focused entertainers coming from as far away as Korea, Japan and Wisconsin will perform on the stage along with local stars Taimane Gardener and Herb Ohta, Jr. Hawai‘i’s own Jake Shimabukuro will be honored and will perform at 4 p.m. Keiki can draw for a chance to win ‘ukulele, take a quick lesson, buy snacks from 15 booths or just run around Kapi‘olani Park. Bring a blanket or beach chairs and pack sunscreen and water for the afternoon outdoor. Park at Kapi‘olani Community College and take the shuttle buses into Waikīkī.

  • All ages
  • Free
  • Sunday, July 21. 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The first shuttle leaves from KCC at 9:30 a.m., the last leaves the park at 6:15 p.m.
  • Kapi‘olani Park, 3840 Paki Ave.
  • ukulelefestivalhawaii.org

Apollo 11 Family Spacefest

July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. On the 50th anniversary of that milestone event, the Hawai‘i State Archives and Windward Community College celebrate with a family-friendly day in Kāne‘ohe. See moon rocks, do interactive physics and aerospace activities, see space-themed shows on the Imaginarium’s 360-degree screen and watch actual news broadcasts about the lunar landing in a 1969-era living room. Bring a picnic blanket and snacks or buy food from WCC’s coffee shop and Waimānalo Country Farms. 

Prince Lot Hula Festival

A full weekend of hula is set against the background of Hawai‘i’s palace. Various hālau will perform kāhiko, traditional, and ‘auana, contemporary, hula outside while food booths, crafters and cultural demonstrations will be nearby.

SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Guide to the Prince Lot Hula Festival on honolulumagazine.com