The SCP Hilo Hotel (formerly Hilo Seaside Hotel) at 126 Banyan Way will be hosting a three-day cultural event and craft fair during Merrie Monarch week featuring nearly 80 vendors and over a dozen live musicians.
The free Mele Manaka 2025 Community Fair will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday in partnership with the Hawaii Rise Foundation, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Atherton Family Foundation and Keaukaha General Store.
The bountiful offerings of Hawaiian entertainment, cultural workshops, giveaways, and 78 vendors will be set up like a farmer’s market where each vendor will have a 10-foot-by-10-foot tent to showcase their wares, said Breeani Kobayashi, general manager of SCP Hilo Hotel.
Hands-on workshops will feature Hawaiian traditions like lei-making, coconut hat weaving, and more.
“It’s so exciting,” said Kobayashi. “It’s entertainment all day, cultural education all day, you can make a lei, you can shop.”
Kobayashi said the hotel and its partners teamed up with the county to close Banyan Way for the event during its run. Neighboring restaurants and eateries will remain open throughout the event, and parking supervised by patrol officers will be available along Banyan Drive, at Reeds Bay Beach Park and at Millie’s Deli and Snack Shop.
The shuttle provided by Hawaiian Airlines and Big Island Candies this week offers another transportation option for the Mele Manaka with its stop on Banyan Drive.
The hotel had been doing annual community day cultural events with the nonprofit Hawaii Rise Foundation for over 10 years before it morphed three years ago into the three-day fest taking place during Merrie Monarch week, Kobayashi said.
“What better way is there to highlight culture and community than through Merrie Monarch?” she said. “What a beautiful time to celebrate culture and celebrate Hilo, the arts and traditions.”
Kobayashi said the event has grown exponentially in the three years since it was expanded from one day to three, with the vendor numbers rising from 50, to 60, to nearly 80 this year.
“These vendors are so talented and creative, and the opportunity to share their product with our local community and travelers from an international level also gives them so much more exposure,” she said.
Kobayashi said the absence of a fee to vend at the event inspired people to come up with products to offer, including thrift-shop style displays and innovative new products from younger people.
“Watching the younger generation step up and be more entrepreneurial is exciting,” she said. “We just want to give vendors the opportunity to share their crafts, big or small.”
The widely diverse offerings range from crochet to jewelry to clay items, with plenty of clothing, hats and home goods available as well. Food options include shrimp chips, honey, pour-over coffee and sherbet, and local farms will be supplying flowers, homemade beauty products and haku lei.
Kobayashi said two vendors that are always highly appreciated are the clothing, accessories and jewelry offered by Papale Piko, and the classic Hawaiian women’s and men’s clothing Manuheali’i has been selling for 40 years.
Booths from the Atherton Family Foundation and Native Hawaiian Student Services from the University of Hawaii at Manoa also will be at the event to provide education and community resources.
Kobayashi said another major goal of this year’s event was “really highlighting a lot of Big Island and Hilo musicians.”
Maui radio personality “Morning Goddess” Alaka‘i Paleka will be emceeing all three days of the event, and of the 15 musicians performing across all three days local favorites include Komakakino on Thursday, Dillon Pakele on Friday and Kea Band on Saturday.
Visit Hawaii Rise Foundation’s Facebook and Instagram pages to learn more.
Email Kyveli Diener at kdiener@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
