Coffee lovers visiting the Big Island in November should definitely check out the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival!
Starting November 4th, you will be able to experience and celebrate this year’s coffee harvest as farmers and artisans come together at this award-winning coffee festival famous worldwide. With 40 events across 10 days, you will be able to find a variety of activities for the entire family: from art exhibits and quilt shows to coffee tastings and workshops.
Known across the world as one the best gourmet coffees, the Kona Coffee bean “cherry” is cultivated on the slopes of Mauna Loa and Hualalai. There are over 500 farms located in the Kona Coffee Belt, where the ideal climate zone found at elevations from 800 to 2,500 feet produce the highest quality coffee beans.
For more than 200 years, five generations of farmers have carefully cultivated, harvested and hand-picked the Kona cherry to produce the most exquisite coffee. With a combination of a strong and delightfully mellow, balanced flavor, it’s a cup of coffee you don’t want to miss!
Species of coffee arabica, 100% Kona Coffee.
Experience first-hand and learn how Kona coffee is grown and processed. During the week of November 7th, there are two Coffee Farms and Mill Tours from 9:00am-2:00pm, scheduled for Tuesday November 8th and Friday November 11th. For more details click here.
On November 11th, make sure to witness one of the most magical moments of the festival. Starting at 6:00pm, hundreds of people walk together through the Historic Kailua Village for the Lantern Parade – a parade full of beautiful lights, vibrant colors and island rhythms. Followed by a night of dance and music at Hale Halawai.
For information on this and other events happening on the Big Island this month, check out our list of annual festivals and events
Three teams close together in the Queen Lili’uokalani Long Distance Outrigger Canoe RaceEach year on the Labor Day weekend, the Big Island’s Kai ‘Opua Canoe Club hosts the world’s largest long-distance outrigger canoe race. Over the 4-day event, more than 2000 paddlers compete in outrigger canoe and stand-up paddleboard races.
We were thrilled that an outrigger canoe team from Japan stayed in one of our vacation homes while they were in town for the competition! They competed in the long-distance race and in a stand-up paddleboard race.
In the highlight – The Queen’s race – single-hull outrigger canoe teams compete on a course over 18 miles between Honaunau Bay and Kailua Bay right in the heart of downtown Kona. This year, over 200 teams competed in Saturday’s long-distance races!
We went down to Kona to try to get a glimpse of our guests’ team and cheer them on. We captured these photos at Keauhou Bay to watch the kane (mens’) race round the point as they headed into Kona. It was inspiring to watch so many outrigger canoe teams cut through the water on this long distance race.
For information on this and other events happening on the Big Island this month, check out our list of annual festivals and events.