Mark your calendars to welcome the fall season with a full day of family fun during the third annual Waimea Fall Festival from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Waimea District Park.
Admission is free.
This year, the fun-filled festival, hosted by Waimea Athletics, will feature a pumpkin patch and keiki games along with activities, entertainment, a craft sale, community information booths and exhibits, and lots of great food.
Keiki will enjoy face-painting, train rides, a climbing wall, inflatable bounce houses and water slides, outdoor field games, horseback rides and a petting zoo.
There will be a wristband game zone featuring carnival games such as bean bag toss, milk bottle knockdown, fishing wall and duckpond. Wristbands also will be available for the inflatables and waterslides.
Be sure to bring lots of sunscreen, a swimsuit, towel and beach chairs.
The U.S. Army at Pohakuloa Training Area will have a series of exhibits ranging from its surprise aircraft display to the always popular football toss and dog tag making station by recruiters. PTA also will have its biologists, botanists and other natural resource experts on hand to introduce and discuss their management of 27 endangered or threatened animal or plant species.
Live entertainment will be featured throughout the day, with Ginger Bertelmann and Dominic Yagong as emcees. This year’s lineup includes the Honokaa High School Jazz Ensemble, Lorenzo’s Army, Mana Christian Ohana Hawaiian Band, Praise Tabernacle and more.
Food booths offering a variety of mouthwatering delights will be plentiful, with island BBQ, bentos, sushi, a variety of filled won tons, Korean chicken plates and teriyaki BBQ sticks. There also will be adobo, pork and peas, pinakbet, vegetarian taro pasteles, acai bowls and other local favorites such as ahi poke bowls and laulau.
And there will be lots of beverages, Braddah pops, infused lemonade, mamaki tea and shave ice to keep everyone cool.
For dessert, check out the wide array of fresh baked goods and snacks including cookies, mochi, cascaron, ulu bread, manju, brownies and more.
The Waimea Fall Festival will host numerous community organizations including Hawaii Wildlife Center, HPA Sustainability and Zero Waste, PTA, Praise Tabernacle, Sunrun Solar, Thelma Parker Memorial Public and School Library, Waimea Middle School with a giveaway drawing for used Chromebooks to take home, and more. Learn about the wide variety of services and resources offered by these organizations and find out how you can help.
Online sales for food/beverage/activity scrip and wristbands will be available Oct. 1-9 at http://waimeaathletics.org/waimeafallpumpkinfestival/. They can be picked up at will call on the day of event.
Scrip and wristbands for the keiki game zone, hamster ball and bubble ball ($10 each) and Fun-to-Jump inflatables ($25) also will be available beginning at 8:30 a.m. the day of the festival.
Last year’s festival attracted more than 6,000 people and organizers are planning for an even larger event this year.
“We’re very excited to present this family-friendly community celebration and to provide opportunities for community youth programs to fundraise for their respective activities,” said Melissa Samura, event coordinator for Waimea Athletics and the Waimea Fall Festival. “This year, the Waimea Cowboys football organization will be hosting the keiki game zone, bubble ball, and hamster ball activities. We’re grateful for the enthusiastic support from our island community, businesses, schools, nonprofits, and youth organizations to make the Waimea Fall Festival a memorable day for everyone.”
Proceeds from the festival benefit participating nonprofit organizations and local businesses, including sports equipment sponsorships provided by Waimea Athletics for community youth programs and public facilities.
Waimea District Park is located at 67-1315 Ala Ohia Road.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Samura at waimeaathletics@gmail.com or 640-7755.
For more information or to volunteer, visit http://waimeaathletics.org/waimeafallpumpkinfestival/.