Darren S.
Yelp
The one-star review is based on the queue into the venue for the annual Made in Hawaii Festival, and the parking within the convention center itself. Both the entry queue (controlled by the convention center) and the parking during this festival (also controlled by the convention center) are abhorrent and lacking.
Attended on Friday 8/15/25 at 1200 noon. Little did we know that the longest single entry line to enter a venue would be the resulting experience.
I've been in lines at the Sphere in Las Vegas that holds 17,000-plus guests. Disneyland parks in Anaheim, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and concert venues from Staples Center in LA (now Crypto Arena), the Verizon Center in DC (now Capitol One Arena) -- both concert venues hold over 20,000 guests. Never have I waited 90 minutes to enter any of these massive venues which hold thousands and thousands more than the volume of people attending Friday's 8/15/25 Made in Hawaii Festival.
The Sphere, Crypto and Capitol One Arena all process these 20,000 guests for a single start time efficiently with more than a mere two entry lines.
The fact that the Made in Hawaii Festival had only TWO entry lines and one set of doors open is extremely poor planning. Event organizers stated that the Hawaii Convention Center only allows two entry lines/two doors open which is absolutely abysmal. Even the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall in previous years provided more than a single line queue.
QR codes do not have a separate line (you can't even purchase entry tickets at the venue). And there's no way to avoid all the online ticketing/processing fees. Then, once inside the convention center lobby, the queue to scan QR codes was dismal at best with lines that made no sense, or criss-crossing lines of people exiting and entering the convention center at the same time with no rhyme or reason. Stanchions were all over the lobby of the convention center with no orderly funneling for people to queue into the actual lower level exhibition hall where the festival took place.
Outside in the blazing heat, we saw people ditching/abandoning the line after making their way up stairs by the Ala Wai side of Waikiki/Ala Moana Blvd, drenched in sweat, and suffering from near heatstroke. There were NO staff to direct people or give an estimated time of entry for the line that went on and on and wrapped completely around the entire convention center. There were no hydration options during the 90-minute wait, and no shade once you hit Ala Moana Blvd or Atkinson Drive, and no way to ensure line-cutters were being monitored.
The single file line was even funneled into the residential area of Kahakai Drive (Google map to see how insane that is), with residents there trying to get into their driveways or parking stalls and queuing attendees inadvertently blocking their ingress or egress.
The "kupuna station" or elderly/handicapped waiting area fronting the convention center had no fans or water for elderly attendees. (Kim Morris, the festival lead, said they'd "look into fans for the Kupuna area next year" so no guarantees). Kupuna had to wait for their party to make their way through the line to then enter the convention center so they were forced to sit there for 90+ minutes as well.
Ticket sales would easily have indicated what kind of attendance was about to show up -- but no additional staff or security was hired to support or direct attendees and alleviate the initial queue of guests.
Kim Morris, the event lead, stated that the line cleared the first day (Friday, 8/15/25) at 1:15pm but remember that from opening til about 12:30pm the line was UPWARDS of a 90 minute wait! The second day (Saturday, 8/16/25), she reported that lines cleared by 10:30am.
So note for future festival dates: take heed for the first day -- and especially the first half of the day -- unless the convention center opens more than one door and allows more than one queue to enter the venue! And also note that the convention center limits structure parking -- so forget about the overpriced parking lot queue at the site itself.