Your Guide to the Perfect Weekend: July 20–23, 2017

A lineup of the weekend’s best events.

July 19, 2017

Marisa Heung,

Got fish? This Saturday has lots of it, with the first-ever Honolulu celebration honoring Hawai‘i’s favorite dish. (Two words: Unlimited poke.) Plus, get your tickets to a keiki hula competition, where 400 of Hawai‘i’s young talent will represent 22 hālau throughout Hawai‘i and Japan; bring family (and your dog) and head to Kapolei for a free, family event that celebrates man’s greatest companion; and put “Thrift Shop” back on your playlist, because at one of the biggest, best, vintage brand-name sales of the year, happening this weekend, could just be our come up.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF Frolic Hawai‘i

Honolulu PokeFest

Saturday, July 22, 5 to 8 p.m.

Hawai‘i’s relationship with poke is the perfect antithesis of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham: We would eat it in a house, with a mouse, on a boat or with a goat. Delicious, versatile poke is perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner or first birthdays, and comes in enough varieties to satisfy all. To celebrate Hawai‘i’s iconic dish, Frolic Hawai‘i presents the inaugural PokeFest, this Saturday at Aloha Tower’s Pier 11. One ticket gets you unlimited access to poke from 15 local restaurants and shops, including: Alicia’s Market, Da Hawaiian Poke Co., Eating House 1849, MW Restaurant, Tamashiro Market and more. The event’s eclectic range of offerings, which include tried-and-true faves (limu ‘ahi, spicy marlin, classic shoyu) alongside more adventurous iterations (marinated raw venison, anyone?), are guaranteed to satisfy the purists and nonconformists. With tickets at $60 a pop (for general admission, $100 for VIP), we say give them all a taste before going back for seconds.

$60–$100, Pier 11 at Aloha Tower, 35 Aloha Tower Drive. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here.

This month’s Weekend Picks Sponsored by:

42^nd Annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Competition

Thursday, July 20 through Saturday, July 22

While many people have a knack for something—art, math, science, cross-stitching—no one is born talented. According to Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, turning your jack of all trades into a master of one takes about 10,000 hours—that’s more than a year’s time of deliberate training. Since many of us have neither the time nor the discipline to train for that long, your best bet is to give up and transfer those dreams to your young progeny, and start ’em young. The annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Keiki Hula Competition, presented by the Kalihi-Pālama Culture & Arts Society, has been a venue for thousands of local keiki to share their talents in traditional and modern hula since 1976. The event has seen lots of young talent over its 42 years, including Grammy winner Kalani Pe‘a, kumu hula Brandon Paredes and fashion designers Manaola Yap and Chaz Kamau‘u. Who knows—out of the 400 5- to 12-year-olds (representing 22 hālau from O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i, the Big Island and Japan) taking the stage this year, you may just witness tomorrow’s hula masters at their beginnings.

$12.50–$14.50, Neal S. Blaisdell Center Area, 777 Ward Ave. For more information and to purchase tickets, go here.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Goodwill goes glam!

Sixth Annual Goodwill Goes GLAM! Sale

Friday, July 21 through Sunday, July 23

The best fashion finds aren’t always at the mall. Head to your neighborhood secondhand store and you’ll realize that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ 2013 hit single was totally spot-on: Thrift shopping is awesome. Leopard-print track pants? Take my $5. Powder-blue velvet blazer? If Snoop could rock it, surely we could, too. Thrift shops are a treasure trove for those on the lookout for fly style at a steal, but hunting for that elusive vintage Gucci or those previously loved Jimmy Choos requires a level of patience that—let’s face it—most of us just don’t have. Goodwill Goes GLAM! presented by Bank of Hawai‘i Foundation returns this weekend to offer name-brand goods at bargain prices. Designer clothing and accessories, vintage housewares and one-of-a-kind collectibles, all curated from community Goodwill donations, will be restocked every hour during the event. Admission is free, with free parking available at McKinley High School. Proceeds from the event will go toward Goodwill Hawai‘i.

P.S. Want first pick of the Goodwill Goes GLAM! sale? The Goodwill Goes GLAM! fashion show on Thursday will feature a fashion show produced by designer Kaypee Soh, plus first access to Goodwill’s inventory of more than 40,000 items. Tickets are $25 per person.

$0–$25, Neal S. Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, 777 Ward Ave. For more information on this event, go here.

Canine Game Day

Saturday, July 22, 3 to 6 p.m.

Grab your best furred pal, roll the car windows down and head to Coral Crater Adventure Park in Kapolei for an afternoon of serious QT. The Hawaiian Humane Society’s Canine Game Day, taking place this Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m., is a completely free event that celebrates dogs and their families with fun contests, refreshments and lots more. Pop-ups, including Bao Tao’n, Kama‘āina K-9 Adventures, Poi Dog Treats, Ulu’s Lemonade and Humane Society’s own store, Whiskers & Wags, will give you the chance to buy something special for your dog (or yourself) with bites, drinks and dog-themed goods. Think your dog is the smartest, fastest or just plain happiest? Enter him or her into the dog derby, best trick contest, tail-wagging contest—even a dog and owner look-alike contest—and try to take home the canine gold. When your dog starts to overheat (from both the sun and the excitement of being around other dogs), the special doggie pool.

Free, Coral Crater Adventure Park, 91-1780 Midway Road, Kapolei. For more information on this event, go here.

Looking for more things to do? Check out our events calendar.