‘Maui County Fair’ bill headed to Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee

Maui County’s efforts to secure funding for the 2025 Maui Fair have taken another step forward.

After a vote by council members Friday, the bill has been referred to the Committee on Budget, Finance, and Economic Development.

Bill 7, which proposes to amend the FY25 budget, would allocate $1.5 million to Festivals of Aloha Inc., the organization tasked with overseeing the 2025 Maui County Fair.

“I was edified and absolutely thrilled to see this regarding the Maui County Fair,” said Kīhei resident Zandra Amaral Crouse in Council Chambers today. “I mean… that brings fond memories to anyone in my generation [and] my children. I see council member [Tom] Cook bouncing his head, so he’s ready for the Ferris Wheel as well.”

How we got here

The 97th Maui Fair, which drew about 90,000 attendees over four days in 2019, looked like it might be the last.

In April 2024, the Maui Fair Alliance, the long-time organizer of the fair, dissolved following a four-year hiatus. Leadership cited a breakdown in relationships with providers, volunteers and key organizations during the pandemic.

But last week, a letter from the Mayor’s Office requested that the Maui County Council allocate the $1.5 million to a new organizer, Festivals of Aloha, for a 2025 fair. According to County officials, the “end of the fair” led Festivals of Aloha Inc. to step in as a new partner.

County officials say the group demonstrated its capacity to manage large-scale events while overseeing the County’s three-day Kuhinia Maui remembrance in Lahaina and Upcountry.

Festivals of Aloha Executive Director Daryl Fujiwara, a lifelong Mauian and Lahainaluna High School Class of 2001 graduate, has also produced several major events, including the Kamehameha Day Celebrations in Lahaina, the Maui Nui Canoe Race, Mele Mei Maui — the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Music Festival, Prince Kuhio Maui Hoʻalauleʻa, the Richard Hoʻopiʻi Falsetto Contest, the Emma Farden Sharpe Hula Festival and the Festivals of Aloha among others.

What’s next

The Maui Fair had for nearly 100 years existed as a community-building event.

“Anything that reinforces our community and increases our level of connectivity is a good thing,” said another resident in Council Chambers today. “I’m hoping that you will vote in favor of it — I’m begging actually.”

In a response request Wednesday, the County of Maui Communications Office told Maui Now that support for bringing back the Maui Fair is growing.

“The Maui Fair is a huge community-building event,” they said. “We’ve heard from the community, including in the Maui Economic Recovery Commission report and the Lahaina Long-Term Recovery Plan, that people want the opportunity to gather together, see neighbors and feel like a community. We hope to be able to have a fair this year that will maintain its nearly 100-year-old traditions as well as encompass residents from rural communities including Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi and Hāna to bring a spirit of unity to our residents countywide.”

The County has also said there are some major logistical and financial details that still need to be resolved, which will require “significant effort, strong community support and active involvement are needed to accomplish.”

The largest costs to have a fair include the shipping of rides, games and tents to Maui, traffic control and security by off-duty police officers and insurance. In addition, there are anticipated costs of repairing and acquiring fair equipment and infrastructure such as food booths, picnic tables, tents and benches that were used in the 2019 fair, per the County. When not being used by the fair, this equipment has been used by nonprofit organizations for other events that benefit the community.

The County said it does not expect to provide additional funding for the fair, besides the $1.5 million being discussed, which are carryover savings from a previous fiscal year. Other possible sources of revenue include sponsorships, philanthropic contributions and admission ticket sales. Such other revenue sources could reduce the County’s fiscal obligation for the fair, they said.