Popular girl group Fifth Harmony shot the video for the hit "Miss Movin’ On" at a carnival, so what better place to see them than the 50th State Fair?
The group, assembled by "The X Factor" creator and judge Simon Cowell, is the highlight of the entertainment at the 67th incarnation of the fair, which opens at Aloha Stadium for six weekends starting Friday with its traditional offerings of rides, food and entertainment.
This year’s fair also features the return of Alaskan grizzly bears, likely the last such appearance by bears or other imported wild animals in Hawaii. Gov. David Ige has vowed to ban such shows, but the fair has already secured permits for this year’s show, said organizer Donna Smith of E.K. Fernandez Shows.
Three Alaskan grizzly bears will be back for the first three weekends of the fair. The exhibit features 10-year-old Tonk with cubs Yogi and Maggie. Last year Maggie, an orphan cub then just a year old, was too young to come out of her enclosure during "playtime" between shows. "They’re all OK to be out now," Smith said.
Fifth Harmony, which performs at 9 p.m. June 12, consists of Dinah Jane Hansen, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke Hernandez, Normani Kordei and Camila Cabello. They met as teenagers in 2012 after the preparatory "boot camp" sessions for "The X Factor." Performing as a group during Season 2, they hit it big with powerful versions of Adele’s "Set Fire to the Rain" and Ellie Goulding’s "Anything Can Happen."
Since then their EP release "Better Together" reached Billboard’s Top 10, with the Spanish version peaking at No. 2 on Billboard’s Latin chart. Their debut studio album, "Reflection," released in February, reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart after just a week.
Local talent will also be well represented at the fair, with youth group Aidan James and the Rising Sons performing at 9 p.m. June 20. The 13-year-old ukulele prodigy has joined bass player Chord Medeiros, 15, and drummer Logyn Okuda, 11, to form the trio. Despite their youth, there’s a lot of musical history in the group. James recently was nominated for a Na Hoku Hanohano Award; Medeiros is the son of singer Glenn Medeiros; and Okuda has played drums and vibraphone with the ‘Iolani School Jazz Combo for five years.
Other local headliners include, at 9 p.m. May 29, the Jimmy Weeks Project, a rock-reggae band that has captured local audiences with energetic performances and the tunes "Down" and "Homegrown"; and local "American Idol" Jordan Segundo, whose appearance in the TV show’s finals has propelled him to several national appearances. Segundo appears at 9 p.m. June 6.
There will also be a local talent contest for kids, held at 4 and 6 p.m. on Sundays June 7-28. The winners will appear on the "Hawaii Stars" television program later this year.
Just because bears are giving their final appearance, that doesn’t mean all animals are to be banned. Smith said the ban refers to "wild" animals, and she will be bringing the horse act Ma’Ceo back to the fair. It is a gypsy-themed show, run by a seventh-generation circus family, with acrobatics and trick riding that "got rave reviews" when it played in Las Vegas recently. Ma’Ceo begins its appearances June 12.
There will also be pig racing, and a petting zoo featuring a small horse, donkey, pot-bellied pig, llama, alpaca, lamb, goats and other animals.
Humans will get into the act with a circus led by ringmaster Ricardo Sosa. The show includes dancing, performances on the low wire and teeterboard, an act where a performer is suspended by her hair, and Nonno the clown. The circus runs from Friday to June 7.
There will be a new ride called Ice Jet, a blend between a merry-go-round and a roller coaster. But ride enthusiasts will most likely be looking forward to Techno Power, which Smith called "probably the No. 1 ride." There are only a few of the whirling rides in the world, and only two that operate in the U.S.
Ride fans will undoubtably return to the popular Zipper and Pharaoh’s Fury, while kiddies will have fun on the Crazy Planes and the Jungle Twist, one of E.K. Fernandez’s newer rides.
There will also be a full midway of carnival games and the usual complement of fun but filling food, from cotton candy to funnel cakes and fried Twinkies — "all that good stuff," Smith said.
50TH STATE FAIR >> Where: Aloha Stadium parking lot >> Cost: Admission $5. Children under 40 inches free except on $1 days. Ride coupons $1.50. >> When: Open at 6 p.m. Fridays, 4 p.m. Saturdays, noon Sundays (except May 31), Friday-July 3; also open at noon May 25, 4 p.m. May 31 and 6 p.m. June 4. Closing time is between 11 p.m. and midnight. >> Info: ekfernandez.com >> Admission specials: May 25, Military Appreciation Day, free admission for active and retired military personnel, discounts on rides; June 4, $2 admission, rides 2 coupons; June 14, 21, 28, $1 admission, noon to 6 p.m., $3, 6 p.m.-closing: July 4, $1 admission RIDE SPECIALS >> 2-coupon days: 4-6 p.m. May 30, 31 and June 6, 13, 20, 27; 6 p.m.-closing June 4 >> $35 10-ride wristband: noon-6 p.m. May 24; noon-closing May 25 and June 7, 14, 21, 28; 6 p.m.-closing May 31 and June 12, 19, 26 >> $20 10-ride wristband: 6 p.m.-closing July 3, 4 p.m.-closing July 4, noon-closing July 5 |