Your Weekend: The Best Family Events-August 3

Our roundup of the best family events on O‘ahu.

Photo: Kelli Bullock

HONOLULU Family Fun Run and Best of Honolulu Festival

It’s the last weekend before public school starts. So celebrate the end of summer with two big HONOLULU events.  Start your Saturday warming up with princesses and Spiderman and cheering on the kids in a medal-earning keiki dash. Then take on a 3K course, as a family, picking up Kaiser Permanente water bottles, TruMoo chocolate milk, snacks and selfies along the way. After the HONOLULU Family Fun Run, presented by Kaiser Permanente, head into the Best of Honolulu Festival, presented by American Savings Bank, for free balloon animals and glitter tattoos, spin-the-wheel games for prizes, a toddler play area, free entry into our 2018 Cover Kids Search and great food including Teddyʻs Bigger Burgers, Bao Ta’on, Il Gelato and much more. Find our family-friendly guide to the big event on honolulu family.com.

• Fun Run: All ages
• $25 for kids 3 to 10 years, includes both the Keiki Dash and 3K. $30 for the Family 3K. 
• Saturday, Aug. 5, Keiki Dash starts at 8:30 a.m. with warm ups begin around 8:15 a.m. 3K to follow.
• Frank Fasi Civic Grounds to Bishop Street and back.
• Register at packet pick up today, Aug. 3, from 3 to 6 p.m. at South Shore Market at Ward Village. Day of registration begins at 7 a.m.
• honolulufamily.com
• Festival: All ages
• Free
• Saturday, Aug. 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Frank Fasi Civic Grounds
• honolulumagazine.com

Want more? Subscribers to HONOLULU Family’s free eNewsletter also learned about a volunteer opportunity at a lo‘i, where to create yarn cupcakes and six unusual frozen treats around O‘ahu. Subscribe now to learn more.

Hālawa Xeriscape Garden Open House

Spend in a day in an unthirsty garden making arts and crafts at this free annual event. Parents can buy low-maintenance plants or attend workshops while kids create origami paper pots, milk carton planters and book markers. Plant a seedling in a recycled tire planter to add to the garden and stamp the event’s activity card to redeem for a goody bag. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks will be sold for $2 to $5 with proceeds going toward safe water and sanitation initiatives in developing countries. A note about parking, street parking is available on Iwaena and ‘Iwa‘iwa streets. A shuttle will pick people up from Iwaena Street and Hālawa District Park. 

• All ages. Most crafts and activities are suggested for kids 2 years and older.
• Free
• Saturday, Aug. 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free shuttles begin at 8:30 a.m.
• Hālawa Xeriscape Garden, 99-1268 Iwaena St.
• (808) 748-5041, boardofwatersupply.com

Koganji Temple Bon Dance

There is a bon dance every weekend  in August as the season winds down. This Mānoa temple’s annual event begins with a children’s lantern parade at 5:30 p.m. followed by dancing, dishes, including yakisoba and corn-on-the-cob, and lots of music. There are also dances in Waipahu, Waialua and Kāne‘ohe this weekend. Find the full list on honolulumagazine.com.

• All ages
• Free
• Friday, Aug. 4 and Saturday, Aug. 5, 5 to 10 p.m.
• Koganji Temple, 2869 O‘ahu Ave., Mānoa
• (808) 732-0446

Spartan Kids Race

Hit the ground running at this muddy course on the windward side. Keiki will run a smaller version of the challenging race, but they’ll still get the chance to to crawl under, climb and leap over obstacles while parents cheer them on. Parents can use the free spectator passes or tackle the adult Spartan races this weekend. Please note that parking will be $10 a vehicle.

• 4 years and older.
• ½-mile Junior Varsity race for kids 4 to 8 years: $25 preregistration, $35 same day. 1-mile Varsity race for kids 9 to 13 years: $35 preregistration, $45 same day.
• Saturday, Aug. 5 and Sunday, Aug. 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Varsity races begin every hour. Junior Varsity races begin every half hour.
• Kualoa Ranch, 49-560 Kamehameha Highway, Kāne‘ohe.
• spartan.com

Newsies: The Musical

It’s a fine life, carrying the banner. At least, that’s what the newsies sing in the live theater version of the Disney movie. Regal Cinema theaters across the nation will be showing the film of the Broadway musical, which tells the story of New York newsboys who go on a historic strike when newspaper magnates Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst increase the price the kids pay for the papers they sell. Keiki can enjoy the singing, dancing and a little 1899 history lesson with their popcorn.

• All ages. You may want to brief younger kids (lower elementary-age) about the story before heading to the theater.
• $18 for adults, $15 for kids.
• Saturday, Aug. 5, 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m.
• Regal Dole Cannery, 735 B Iwilei Road and Regal Pearl Highlands, 1000 Kamehameha Highway, Pearl City.
• regmovies.com

Looking for more events for adults? Check out HONOLULU Magazine’s Weekend Picks on honolulumagazine.com.