HONOLULU (KHON2) — The 50th State Fair won’t happen this year, but a local events promoter is scrambling to help fill the void. The Ewa Carnival is set for Labor Day weekend. And even though it’s coming together last minute, it’s expected to be a fun-filled, family-friendly event.
It’s not exactly the 50th State Fair, but there will be some family fun this summer.
“With the absence of the 50th State Fair due to the Aloha Stadium renovations, I felt it’d be a good time to bring back something that, something nostalgic like the Ewa Carnival back to our community,” said Raymond Ho Jr., TMR Events.
The Ewa Carnival, announced today by TMR Events, returns to the west side Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 on the Wai Kai Events Lawn.
The plan is to have a few EK Fernandez rides on the gravel parking lot, food booths and games on the sidewalk, and their concert equipment on the lawn. It’ll already be there from the Birthday Bash from the weekend before.
Concert acts are still to be determined.
TMR Events say it was a no brainer to ask EK Fernandez to get involved because both of them are the only guys who use the Aloha Stadium property anymore, and both of them needed to find new homes. So they’re hoping this event is a win for everyone involved — TMR Events, EK Fernandez, Wai Kai, all the vendors who will be there and of course the public.
“You kind of roll with the punches, and you try your best, and, you know, we want to get back to entertaining the public, that’s what we do best,” said Scott Fernandez, EK Fernandez president & owner.
Even though there’s no 50th State Fair this year, EK Fernandez says they’re far from done.
“We continue to look for a location that can actually support, you know, a proper state fair, all the big equipment, all the games, all the foods, all the huge tents and entertainment,” Fernandez said. “And that’s our goal, and we look forward to trying to get that done.”
EK Fernandez will also be a part of the Maui County Fair, which returns after a six-year hiatus in October at the War Memorial Special Events Complex.
Until the 50th State Fair returns, Hawaii carnival goers will have to get their fix at these smaller events.
“It’s a huge demand I feel like, especially for this side of the island, we don’t get a lot of these type of events so it’d be, it’s good for the community,” Ho said.
TMR Events is giving out 20,000 tickets for free admission. Since announcing the Ewa Carnival Thursday morning, Ho says they’ve given out more than half of those tickets.