New and unique products that are locally made — and the people who make them — are being sought for the annual Made in Hawaii Festival this summer.
The three-day Made in Hawaii Festival is now in its 21st year and is scheduled for Statehood Day weekend, Aug. 21-23, at its usual home at Neal Blaisdell Center.
The annual event is produced by the Hawaii Food Industry Association, but it is about way more than comestibles and potables.
Local entrepreneurs, authors, craftspeople and manufacturers showcase gifts of all sorts, home products, quilts, apparel from T-shirts to scarves and expensive finery, tote bags, fashion accessories, jewelry and other consumer goods.
Local chefs perform cooking demonstrations using local food products, local musicians entertain the massive audience and the whole focus is to encourage people to "buy Hawaii, for Hawaii," according to the call-for-exhibitors announcement.
"This festival is fantastic," said Terri Dux, a partner in idkwhat2wear, whose amusing shirts, buttons and other products have been a staple at the Made in Hawaii Festival for about eight years.
For crafters and other Hawaii businesses, "it’s very well organized," and Dux and business partner Karl Miyashiro are happy to have their names associated with it.
"The exposure that the Made in Hawaii Festival gets is phenomenal," she said. "The last two years, trolleys have brought visitors from Waikiki" to the Neal Blaisdell Center during the event, "and we saw huge growth in our business."
Last year’s festival featured more than 450 exhibitors, a record, and was attended by more than 40,000 people, organizers told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in August.
There is a bit of attrition each year, as in the case of longtime exhibitors retiring. The people who make All Butter Dreams cookies did not attend the 2014 festival, for instance.
"It is sad to see those people go," said Amy Hammond, event producer and president of Special Events Hawaii.
However, departures do leave "an opportunity, it’s when we can get new people in and so many new things come out every year," she said.
"It always surprises me," she added, given all her years of involvement with the show. "If you really look at the creativity here in Hawaii, it’s amazing. Artists here are very creative people, and so many people need to have second jobs because of the cost of living here, so I think the Made in Hawaii Festival is a great way for people to have a small business to introduce and to be able to grow it as well."
Returning exhibitors from last year have until Feb. 28 to complete their booth applications and make payment before applications are open to new exhibitors March 1.
The application process for returning and new exhibitors is online, and anyone thinking about becoming an exhibitor must ensure that their products have at least 51 percent of their wholesale value added by being manufactured, assembled, fabricated or produced within the state of Hawaii, according to festival rules.
Standard 10-by-10-foot booths cost $650 for the three-day festival, while larger corner booths cost $700. Booths may be shared by a maximum of two vendors, though shared booths are subject to a $215 surcharge.
Many first-time exhibitors run out of inventory on the first day, which explains booths that are empty on the second and third days of the festival. New exhibitors should plan on bringing more product than they have taken to past craft fairs or public events.
First Hawaiian Bank has been a sponsor since the inception of the festival, which began as a way to help incubate local businesses and gain them exposure. The festival continues to open early to select retail buyers on the first day, before the doors open to the public. Access to the wholesale market can be of key importance to a festival exhibitor, to help cement further business success or, at a minimum, to develop relationships that may be mutually beneficial in the future.
Huge wholesale accounts aren’t for everyone, though. In the case of idkwhat2wear, "one of our accounts is with Menehune Mac," Dux said. "That was an agreement made at the Made in Hawaii Festival that was a really good fit."
Her contact at the company actually is a schoolmate from her elementary school days. "I’ve known her for many years, it’s a very trusting relationship and she’s very flexible," Dux said. "She knows we have full-time jobs, and she works with our schedule."
