Puna Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, for the past two years, hosted a Puna Spring Festival to bring the community together and share the temple with everyone. From 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, the temple hosts the first ever Puna Winter Festival.
Bring your appetite, as there will be a variety of foods and drinks available from Puna Hongwanji members, the Puna Hongwanji choir, and Puna Hongwanji Dharma School. Come eat lunch and enjoy the entertainment, shopping and games that will be available.
You can even do some Christmas shopping during the event. There will be 24 craft vendors with an assortment of items available for sale.
The Puna Hongwanji Boutique also will be open, with a lot of new items that were recently donated. The Boutique will be open from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., so make sure to come check it out before it closes.
The festival also will feature a variety of live entertainment.
The temple also will be open for people to walk in and see the beauty of the alter and ornaments. The Rev. Satoshi Tomioka will be around to answer any questions.
There also will be lucky number drawings for the chance to win some fabulous prizes. The Cub Scouts will be having games for the keiki and keiki at heart. And bring the keiki to visit Santa and get a picture with him.
There even will be people to gift wrap items purchased from craft vendors or gifts bought elsewhere that need to be wrapped. The public can also get its wrapping done by temple members from Sunday through Dec. 24 at the Keaau Shopping Center. Visit the temple’s Facebook page for the times of availability each day.
The temple is located at 16-492 Old Volcano Road in Keaau.