Hawaii: Kailua-Kona festival in early November celebrates coffee
Special events will be brewing in early November as the Big Island of Hawaii celebrates coffee.
The state’s oldest food festival, the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, will take place Nov. 1-10 at various venues throughout the Kailua-Kona area. The fest has celebrated the annual harvest of coffee beans every November for the past 42 years.
The festivities kick off Nov. 1 with an event new to the lineup: the Kona Coffee Art Show & Competition. Starting at 10 a.m. and continuing throughout 10 days of the festival, the Donkey Mill Art Center in Kona will feature local artists’ works that capture the history and spirit of the region’s coffee growers.
Nov. 3 brings a test of skill during the annual coffee picking contest. The pickers are amateurs who will gather ripe beans from bushes. The competition begins at 8:30 a.m. at the UCC Ueshima Coffee Co., in the hills above Kona.
The island’s 200-year history of coffee production will be shared each weekday (Nov. 4-8) at the Kona Coffee Living History Farm in the village of Captain Cook. Tours will be offered from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Admission is $10 with the purchase of a festival button.
Visitors can sample the brews of local farmers on Nov. 9 at the festival’s Hoolaulea (celebration) at the Keauhou Shopping Center in Kona. Besides tastings, coffee will also be sold by local farmers in the Kona Coffee Corridor. A variety of family-friendly cultural activities is also planned.
A full calendar of events is available online.
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