Kids too young to remember the last Maui County Fair create new memories as opening night draws crowd of 30,000

With the Pharoah’s Fury rocking back and forth, the Super Sizzler whizzing nearby and the Wave Swinger sending people into the air on Thursday, the Ross family from Lahaina couldn’t wait to get into the 98th Maui County Fair.

The last time the fair was held, in 2019, Kalani and Bethany Ross’ children — 4-year-old Ahsoka and 1-year-old Obadiah — weren’t even born.

After six years without a fair, the return of the beloved community event drew an estimated than 30,000 attendees on Thursday, the opening day of the four-day event, according to Maui County.

While the large crowds led to long lines to get into the festivities at the War Memorial Complex, the wait appeared to be worth it by the happy faces enjoying all that the fair has to offer.

In the joy zone, which features 14 types of amusement rides, cousins Keala‘i Harders, 9, and Pa‘ihilani Bailey, 11, waited in line with with their mom/aunty Kaha‘iola Harders for the Super Slide.

Keala‘i, a Pā‘ia Elementary School fourth-grader, was only 3 the last time the fair was held, but she said she remembers “eating cotton candy and going on the little kiddie rides. Now, I’m having a blast. I’m having so much fun.”

Pa‘ihilani, a sixth-grader at Kalama Intermediate School, added: “The best part is all the rides and the food. I like garlic noodles the best. That was my dinner tonight.”

It was just like old times for many who attended, including the Grand Marshal of the parade, former Maui Mayor Mike Victorino.

“When I went to the stage area, the entertainment tent and the food court tent, all the people eating and watching the entertainment, enjoying themselves, enjoying their families, it brought back so many memories that my heart was so full of joy,” Victorino said. 

During the parade in which an estimated 3,500 people took part, Victorino and his wife of 49 years, Joycelyn, rode in a convertible Mustang along Ka‘ahumanu Avenue. Sons Mikey and Shane, a Major League Baseball player for 12 seasons, flew to Maui to spend the special night with their father, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. Shane flew in from Las Vegas, Mikey flew in from O’ahu.

Mike Victorino was back at the fair on Friday night and will be there again today and Sunday, all to run the parking lot near Maehara Baseball Stadium for the Knights of Columbus. He is in charge of that duty, one of the many fundraising opportunities for nonprofits and local businesses at the fair.

“I’m there every year, that’s what the fair is all about,” Mike Victorino said.

The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the fair from happening in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the Maui Fair Alliance that had run the event said securing commitments from service providers, volunteers and vendors proved too challenging. At the same time, Joy Zone operator E.K. Fernandez stopped shipping its rides to Neighbor Islands due to rising shipping costs, another blow to the fair revival efforts. 

In 2023, soaring shipping costs again contributed to the cancellation of the fair. Last year, the Maui Fair Alliance announced it was dissolving. With no other options stepping up, the county administration and the County Council concluded it needed to provide funding to bring the Maui County Fair back.

Maui County allocated $1.5 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget to reinstate the fair. Victorino, the fair director from 1997-2006, said it is money well spent.

“We just lost The Sentry (PGA Tour golf tournament), so it was really, relatively important that this fair be successful,” Victorino said. “And I think it is going to be successful. And the economic impact that it has is far-reaching. … It was well worth the investment that the county made.”

Current Maui Mayor Richard Bissen had a smile on his face as he mingled in the commercial business tent in the War Memorial Gym parking lot with fair-goers making the War Memorial Complex appear like a human traffic jam. 

Bissen said the Maui County Fair is the only one in the state this year after the 50th State Fair on O‘ahu, as well as Kaua‘i and Hawai’i county fairs, were called off. 

The 50th State Fair could not be held because the Aloha Stadium parking lot where it is usually held is being prepared for the demolition of the condemned stadium. The Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island county fairs were called off largely due to the high cost of transporting the E.K. Fernandez rides to the Neighbor Islands.

“We understand, we didn’t have one for six years, so we know how that can happen,” Bissen said. “So, we’re just pleased and we hope that the Neighbor Island folks know they have a place to come if they feel like getting in some E.K. Fernandez rides and games and food and vendors.”

There are 48 local businesses and 41 local nonprofit food booths taking advantage of the large fair crowds on Maui.

There was a Baldwin High School booth, serving Sweet and Savory Waffle Dogs to raise funds for its Project Graduation 2026. Jovina Kaeo, owner of the waffle dogs business, was glad to help the Baldwin students.

“It’s the craziest event I’ve done, but it’s fun,” Kaeo said as she mixed waffle batter with hot dogs on a stick, or with mozzarella cheese or chocolate. “I have control issues, so as you can see, I’m the only one cooking.”

Kaeo has owned her Sweet and Savory Waffle Dogs business for about one year and her close friend Ranae Balag is the chairperson of the Baldwin High School Project Graduation 2026, “so I kind of got volun-told to do it,” Kaeo said.

Kris Sergent was busy in the Central East Maui Little League booth nearby selling water and sports drinks. He said 80 volunteers will spend time in the booth during the fair’s four-day run. 

The Central East Maui Little League juniors team Sergent helps coach made it to the West Regional final this year. Another CEMLL team had the same 13 boys who made it to back-to-back Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 2024 at the Majors (11-12) level and the Intermediate 50/70 level this past summer.

“You got to have fundraising to get to the Mainland, right?” Sergent said. “Everything and everywhere you go takes a lot of money. For nonprofits like us, the fair is huge because it sets you up for future success.” 

Central East Maui Little League also had the water booth in 2019, the last time the fair was held and the first time any Maui team made it to Williamsport for the traditonal Little League World Series.

“Maui’s been very fortunate to make it to the biggest stage a bunch of times,” Sergent said. “Having opportunities like this helps, a lot, to get back there.”

While the food booths support nonprofit groups, local businesses filled the large canopy tent in the War Memorial Gym parking lot.

Da Maui Candy Shack, a pop-up combination of HI Freeze Treats and Gracie’s Goodies, was selling gushers, beef jerky chips, candy grapes, pickled onion with ogo, coconut refreshers, freeze dried candy, chamoy li hing mui, freeze dried ice cream, duro Mexican chips and pickle kits.

Co-owners Jon Ilar (HI Freeze Treats) and Ashley Lynch (Gracie’s Goodies) said the first night was going extremely well as a line waited to buy items.

“We just started this venture,” Ilar said. “Da Maui Candy Shack started between Gracie’s Goodies and HI Freeze Treats for this fair. … We joined forces and so far it’s been pretty good.”

The county also has a program to help bring Lāna‘i residents to the fair today and Moloka‘i residents on Sunday, helping with some of the travel expenses for each island. 

Also a Special Fair Day for residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mobility impairment and members of the Deaf community was held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday with no one else allowed into the fairgrounds until 5 p.m.

Today and Sunday, an Esports competition will be held in the Jon Garcia Gymnasium on the Baldwin High School campus just above the War Memorial Gym parking lot.

Bissen said the remarkable first-night turnout on a Thursday school night points to the need for the event. He said that the county is open to funding the event for next year and beyond if that is necessary. Money raised this year will help offset those costs. 

“If that’s the only way to do it, I don’t think there’s any question we need to have it,” Bissen said. “We’re determined to see it happen.”

This fair seems to be a boost to the spirit of the island, which is still recovering from the devastating wildfires in Lahaina and Kula in 2023.

The Ross family had to move to Oregon after their home on Ku’uipo Street in Lahaina was damaged by the fire. They call their home “one of the miracle houses that survived. … It just needed repairs.”

After 18 months, the repairs were done and they moved back to Maui in January.

“It’s pretty cool to be back among Mauians,” Kalani Ross said, with his mom Ananda Stone smiling and chiming in: “It’s a nice night for a fair.”