2020 Events

Overview (click each item for details)

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Parade & Block Party – Saturday, May 16th

4pm – Parade

Hāmākua-Kohala Health will be hosting this year’s Annual Honokaʻa Western Week Parade for the third year in row! Visit www.hamakua-health.org for more information on the services and resources offered at our 4 locations in Honoka’a, Kapa’au, Laupahoehoe and Waimea.

Come on down and enjoy this year’s 2020 parade, featuring marching bands, riding units, music, taiko drumming, dancers, and much more.

Parade Route: The parade will run from the corner of the Honokaʻa Skate Park and the Old Infirmary, down Lehua Street, turn right onto Mamane Street, and finish back at the park by turning right up Puakalo Street.

6pm – Block Party

The Western Week block party is Honokaʻa’s biggest downtown festival all year! Come join in the fun for dancing in the street, live music, a silent auction, beer garden, and our famous talent contest.

Do you have some wicked talents? Compete for $1500 in cash prizes in the Saloon Girls & Cowboys Got Talent Contest. More info >>>

Hāmākua Harvest Farm Festival – Sunday, May 17th

8am-3pm @ Hāmākua Harvest Farmers Market

Join our local farmers in a celebration of agriculture on the East side of Honokaʻa town at the Hāmākua Harvest Farmers Market Complex.

Talk Story Session – Monday, May 18th

5pm @ Honokaʻa Public Library

Want to know what it’s like to be a real cowboy? Or learn history of the Hāmākua area? Get your week started off right with a talk story at the Honokaʻa library with some of the long-time cowboys of the area.

Stick Horse Creation – Tuesday, May 19th

3pm @ North Hawaiʻi Education & Research Center

Youth get to bring their creative ideas to life while making their own trusty steed to ride in the Keiki Cowboy Games on Thursday.

All participants will run at the same time and must ride from start to finish. Limited to the first 30 applicants to turn in registration forms at Hāmākua Youth Center.

Portuguese Bean Soup & Sweet Bread Contest – Wednesday, May 20th

5pm – North Hawaiʻi Education & Research Center

Chefs and home cooks of all ages are invited to enter the Western Week Portuguese Bean Soup and Sweet Bread Contest at the NHERC pavilion.

When waves of Portuguese families immigrated to the Islands between the late 1870s and 1915 to work on Hawaiʻi’s sugar plantations, ranches and dairy farms, they also brought a taste for pao duce (sweet bread), spicy linguica (Portuguese sausage) and rich and hearty Portuguese bean soup. Shared at multi-cultural plantation meals, these foods became some of the popular and representative Portuguese options that then gained wider popularity to become local mainstays.

Put your tried-and-true traditional recipes to the test for a shot at the coveted Golden Ladle or Rolling Pin award. This year the winners will be additional honored with placement of their names on perpetual trophy awards that will be on display at the NHREC Heritage Center.  Table décor and original names for each entry will also be judged.  Western wear, Portuguese costumes or wearing red, green and yellow is encouraged.

Keiki Cowboy Games – Thursday, May 21st

Time TBA – Rose Andrade Arena

Bring your keiki to join in the fun at Rose Andrade Arena! Stick horse races, games, and even a chance to burn a brand on a special take-home souvenir.

Line Dancing & Fashion Show – Friday, May 22nd

5pm – Honokaʻa People’s Theater

Got some cowboy/girl wear you want to show off? Be a model in the fashion show! See styles from Honokaʻa’s many boutique clothing shops.

Join Pauline Dias and her Country Rhythm Sliders in an open-house line dance! Bring comfy dance shoes and get on the dance floor, learning some hip moves and country songs.

Get a jump start on the steps! Line Dance lessons are ongoing throughout the year at Honokaʻa auditorium on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 5:30pm and at the Kanu o ka ʻĀina gymnasium on Wednesdays at 5:30pm. Contact Brad at 936-1903 for more information.

Saddle Club Scholarship Rodeo – Saturday, May 23rd – Monday, May 25th

Rose Andrade Arena

The memorial day weekend Saddle Club Scholarship Rodeo is the largest in Honokaʻa all year. Events include: poo waiu, bull riding, team roping, sheep riding, double mugging, barrel racing, calf scramble, and more.