LIHU‘E — Every year the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair grows a little bigger. The 2010 version of the island’s largest event will be no different, bringing together much of the island’s population over its four-day run starting Thursday. “We’ll
LIHU‘E — Every year the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair grows a little bigger. The 2010 version of the island’s largest event will be no different, bringing together much of the island’s population over its four-day run starting Thursday.
“We’ll have between 40,000 and 50,000 people by the end of this thing,” said Jerry Ornellas, agriculture research technician at the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
“The fair is about agriculture,” he said. “But for me it’s really about people. It’s the big gathering for Kaua‘i. The once-a-year where everybody comes together.”
EK Fernandez, the company with the popular mechanical rides, usually brings a new ride every year, said fair coordinator Melissa McFerrin, who also serves as Kaua‘i Farm Bureau executive director.
“This year the new ride is the Dragon Coaster,” she said, adding that the ride is for younger children.
Another new attraction is a mini skateboarding half-pipe. The Kaua‘i Skate ‘Ohana will do a demonstration Friday and Saturday at 10 p.m., with local band Skunkdog performing simultaneously.
On Saturday at 1 p.m., six top chefs from local restaurants will compete against each other, using only locally grown produce. They will be judged by 13 celebrities plus up to 100 members of the public willing to eat six dishes and pay $20 for the treat.
The winning chef will take some $3,000 for his favorite charity. Other chefs will take $200 each for their favorite charity.
Also Saturday, a special farmers market will be promoting value-added agricultural products, such as honey, goat cheese and shampoo.
Other new additions include daily pig races, a magician’s performance and a concert by the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific.
The first county fair ever organized on Kaua‘i was in 1922, but it was in the early 1950s that it became the Kaua‘i Farmers Fair. In the 1960s the Kaua‘i Farm Bureau took over, giving the fair its current name.
Kaua‘i Farm Bureau President Roy Oyama said he attended the fair for the first time when he was still in grammar school in the 1950s.
“That’s how I got interested in agriculture,” he said.
Back then, the lifelong farmer took first place in a vegetable show and won fertilizer, ag tools and other products.
Oyama still remembers when Frank Sinatra came to Kaua‘i especially to attend the fair. “Old Blue Eyes” sang and performed — true story — on an ice skating rink set up at the fair.
The fair was originally held in Hanapepe. It later moved to Kapa‘a. As the fair grew bigger, it moved to Lihu‘e, where it has been ever since. First it went to Wilcox Elementary School. From there it moved to the War Memorial Convention Hall. In 1993, the year after Hurricane Iniki, the fair grew even bigger and moved to its current location behind Vidinha Stadium.
The current grounds, however, are already getting too small for the fair that keeps growing.
“We need more space; we pretty much maxed out and can’t expand anymore,” Ornellas said. “It would be really nice if we had a county fairgrounds.”
Almost every county in the United States has a fairground, he said.
A multi-use county facility could be used for fairs and other events, plus it would double as a hurricane marshaling area, Ornellas said.
Oyama agreed, saying he would also like to see a new fairground complete with underground facilities such as sewer system, water and electricity. Such grounds, he said, could be used for different events.
McFerrin also said the current grounds are becoming too small. But she praised the County of Kaua‘i for making the fair possible.
“We would not exist without the county,” said McFerrin, adding that YWCA and Grove Farm also make the fair possible by providing parking space.
“The fair is about agriculture, of course, but it’s also about a lot of things,” said Ornellas, adding that many non-profit organizations will be fundraising, and vendors will be promoting their products.
But as the fair grows, many are being left out.
“We sell out every year; we have a lot of people on a waiting list,” said Ornellas.
A lot of non-profit organizations and vendors couldn’t get in this year because many politicians took a lot of the booths, he said, blaming the upcoming elections.
A drive by the stadium this week shows the fair rapidly taking shape. But it is not until Thursday at 6 p.m. that the fair will make its official debut.
“Once all the lights come on and the crowd shows up, it just transforms into a different place,” said Ornellas, who is a farmer at heart. But when the fair is on, he and his CTAHR crew help build the place, together with many other farmers.
“It’s a fundraiser for us, but it’s a labor of love for the people of Kaua‘i,” Ornellas said.
Tens of thousands will attend the fair, attracted by rides, food, prizes, or maybe just a chance to see relatives who live on the other side of the island.
“People just like tents; maybe it’s part of our nomadic past,” said Ornellas, joking.
The fair is open Thursday from 6 to 11 p.m., Friday from 6 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday from noon to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 11 p.m.
“It’s like a little city we put together. It lasts four days and it’s gone,” Ornellas said.
Visit www.kauaifarmfair.org for more information.
