Questioning when is the perfect time to go to Honolulu? Here is the inside track on when to search out essentially the most festivals, the smallest crowds, and the right seaside climate, plus what’s taking place month to month.
Editor’s observe: Throughout COVID-19, please verify the most recent journey restrictions earlier than planning any journey and all the time comply with authorities well being recommendation. Occasions could also be topic to vary.
Excessive season: December to April, June to August
Greatest browsing and whale watching
That is prime time for surf breaks and the migration of humpback whales. However do not miss distinctive cultural festivities, both, like the Sailor Jerry Pageant. Held in Chinatown, this pageant options music, stand-up comedy, motion pictures and tattooing. Sailor Jerry (aka Norman Collins) was the legendary tattoo artist who fulfilled the third a part of Honolulu-stationed WWII sailors’ and troopers’ proud motto – ‘stewed, screwed and tattooed.
You may be hitting Honolulu at its highest temperatures, room charges, and inflow of vacationers, however the climate remains to be unbelievable. Ebook any ticketed occasions and make restaurant and lodge reservations far upfront – and stand up slightly early if you happen to’re fearful about snapping your trip pictures with out randos photobombing the view.
Shoulder season: November to December, September
Greatest time for cultural choices and the outside
After the summer time rush and warmth are over, and earlier than the uber-crowded winter tourism season begins later in November, Honolulu is at its most accessible in October. Crowds at well-liked sights skinny, trails are much less crowded and the climate is mellow.
You might spend days having fun with the solitude of the forests and peaks across the metropolis. A few of Oʻahu’s most popular hiking trails lead into the plush, windy Koʻolau Vary simply above downtown.
Off-season: Might and October to November
Greatest time for beating the crowds
With mellow temps, dry climate, and pods of humpback whales passing by Oahu, Might is a unbelievable time to go to Honolulu – particularly as a result of crowds are comparatively small. You’ll get higher lodge and airfare offers, and slightly elbow room on prime trails and seashores.
Within the fall, you may additionally see costs dip with the temperatures, and fewer crowds forward of the winter rush. That is additionally a unbelievable time to expertise Honolulu like a neighborhood, dipping right into a wealth of festivals and cultural choices that crop up exterior the excessive season.
Month-by-month breakdown
Here is a month-to-month information to what you possibly can count on by the 12 months in Honolulu. All occasions are topic to vary.
January
A part of a Hawaii-wide circuit, Oʻahu Fringe Pageant presents uncensored performing arts, usually off the cuff. Most venues are downtown.
Key Occasions: Oʻahu Fringe Pageant
February
Chinatown’s annual swirling new 12 months festivities embody a parade with lion dances and crackling firecrackers. Purple-colored decorations are in all places.
Key Occasions: Lunar New Yr, Nice Aloha Enjoyable Run
March
Three days of Hawaiian and Asian-Pacific cultural trade with music, dance and drama performances, an arts-and-crafts honest, a parade and fireworks.
Key Occasions: Honolulu Pageant
April
A celebration of Hawaiian music beginning in April with workshops, stay live shows and hula performances leads as much as Hawaii’s prestigious Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, that are the native model of the Grammy’s.
Might
Held on Memorial Day in Might, the souls of the lifeless are honored with a Japanese floating-lantern ceremony after sundown at Magic Island in Ala Moana Regional Park. Greater than 5000 lanterns are floated and over 50,000 folks flip as much as watch.
Key Occasions: Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaii
June
In June, the live shows and hula performances of Mele Mei lead as much as Hawaii’s prestigious Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, that are the state’s model of the Grammys – a big honor in a tradition the place music is vital. In the meantime, certainly one of Hawaii’s greatest hula contests additionally takes place, with a whole bunch of dancers competing at downtown’s Neal S Blaisdell Middle in late June. Members come from all around the world.
Key Occasions: Pan-Pacific Pageant, King Kamehameha Hula Competitors, King Kamehameha Celebration, Sailor Jerry Pageant
July
Colourful Chinese language dragon boats race to the beat of island drummers on one lengthy summer time Saturday. Additionally in July, the state’s oldest and largest noncompetitive hula occasion sees Hawaii’s main hula halau (faculties) carry out over a summer time weekend.
Key Occasions: Hawaii Dragon Boat Pageant, Prince Lot Hula Pageant, Queen Liliʻuokalani Keiki Hula Competitors
August
An enormous annual market for Hawaii-made merchandise, together with all the pieces from artwork to meals to furnishings to crafts to cheesy souvenirs.
Key Occasions: Made in Hawaii Pageant
September
September’s Aloha Festivals are a month-long statewide celebration of Hawaiian music, dance and historical past. Honolulu hums with performances and events.
Key Occasions: Aloha Festivals
October
A few of Honolulu’s greatest festivals spill over into Waikiki, most notably the annual Honolulu Satisfaction parade. Star cooks, sustainable farmers and meals lovers come collectively for over three weeks of wine tastings, cooking demonstrations, excursions, and eating occasions highlighting the state’s prime farmers, fishers, ranchers, bakers, meals producers and cooks on the Hawaiʻi Meals & Wine Pageant.
Key Occasions: Hawaiʻi Meals & Wine Pageant, Speak Story Pageant
November
The King Kalakaua Pageant features a live performance of conventional monarchy-era music by the Royal Hawaiian Band at ʻIolani Palace each November 16, a parade down Waikiki’s Kalakaua Ave, and a lei-draping ceremony on the King Kalakaua statue positioned on the intersection of Kalakaua Ave and Kuhio Ave in Waikiki.
Key Occasions: King Kalakaua Pageant, Hawaiʻi Worldwide Movie Pageant, Honolulu Vogue Week
December
December boasts unbelievable climate and palm timber strewn with vacation lights, making for a one-of-a-kind mixture of Christmas cheer and sunny sweatathons just like the Honolulu Marathon as crowds pour in for the winter excessive season. Roam the lobbies of the larger, fancier inns to see them go huge on vacation shows – and stick round for the New Years fireworks over Waikiki Seashore.
Key Occasions: the Honolulu Marathon, Honolulu Metropolis Lights
