Kaisen Castillo got a Times Supermarket gift card, and Makani Kaiwi got one, too on Tuesday — all for eating a Spam musubi from Times Supermarket during the Eating contests at the Waimea Town Celebration that opened on Feb. 15 and runs through Feb. 23.
Castillo was the first prize winner of the adult division during the lunchtime event, wolfing down six and a half Spam musubi within the timed span. That was just a half-a-musubi more than second-place winner Faa Taala, and more than a whole musubi more than third-place winner Logan Ayau who polished five-and-a-quarter Spam musubi.
Kaiwi was the winner in the keiki division (yes, WTC chair Thomas Nizo of the historic Waimea Theatre said there was a keiki division), losing little time ripping apart the nori-covered morsel while third-place winner Kaulana Taala froze. Second-place winner Maddox Taala was the clean diner, nursing his musubi and being able to gracefully wash down with sips of water while anxious fans cheered and operated smartphone videos of the memory-making moments.
Kahalau provided the entertainment for the first public events (no admission charge) of the Waimea Town Celebration that opened with the Cocktails &Cuisine event on Saturday at the Waimea Theatre.
Sunday, the King Kaumualii Luau took over the theatre, and Monday the theater rolled a bunch of celluloid during the Waimea Film Festival.
The Waimea Theatre is also home to Ambassador of Aloha on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and the Tales &Treats on Thursday.
Nani Riley, one of the organizers of the “Eating Contests at Hofgaard Park” anticipated a “good turnout” for the Redondo Hot Dog Eating Contest on Wednesday and the Kauai Kim Chee Kim Chee eating contest on Thursday. The eating contests start at 11 a.m. and features Russell Wellington behind the microphone on Wednesday and Nick Castillo on guitar for Thursday.
Philip J.F. Hilo, the defending hot dog eating contest winner from 2024, already anticipates participating in the Wednesday contest, using the Spam Musubi Contest as a warm-up for bettering the six hot dogs that earned him the title, last year.
The Waimea Town Celebration is also about sports with the popular Na I ole canoe races taking place early on Saturday near the Waimea Pier. The scheduled start time is 8 a.m. following the 7 a.m. start of the Na HeiHei A Ola Fun Run which starts on the Eastern end of the Waimea Bridge and runs through downtown Waimea.
Waimea High School softball hosts its three-day preseason tournament at the Waimea Canyon Park from Thursday through Saturday, and Waimea High School Athletic Director Dino Pabre leads “Kauai’s largest 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament on Friday from 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. at the Waimea Canyon Park basketball courts.
The Kauai Paniolo Showdown presented by Friendship D’s Ranch lights up the west end of Waimea on Thursday (from 7 p.m.), Friday (from 8:30 a.m.), and Saturday (from 10 a.m.).
Everything is tied together by the two-day Hoolaulea that starts on Friday evening from 5 p.m., and Saturday morning from 10 a.m. featuring food booth vendors from local nonprofits, bounce houses, keiki rides, a nice selection of craft vendors, an Island Distributing/Koloa Rum Beer Garden, and almost non-stop music from groups such as Hawaiiki, Maunalua, Hammah House, Loeka &Damon, Miah Music, Kealamauloa, Peni Dean, Kolea, Kawao, Revival, The Vitals, and Three Plus.
