10 Reasons To Go To The Maui Fair

1.You have kids – it’s the closest thing we’ve got to Disneyland on Maui.  

2. You have a weakness for funnel cakes and deep fried foods or you want a particular local food that you know you can get at the Fair. 

"Go, Aunty, Go!"

3. You're a big kid at heart. You enjoy the energy of big crowds. You like going fast on rides and trying to win oversize teddy bears by hitting the bottle.  You love the local entertainment lined up for the fair.  

4. If you’re new to Maui, it’s a way to experience being with a lot of local residents rather than mainland tourists and because of that, the feeling of being on Maui is entirely different.  

5. Student artwork is often really good and surprising.

A "lovely" photo by Maui High student Raquel Lara-Cruz. 

6. You’ll learn a lot of helpful information by stopping at the different community and nonprofit booths – from invasive plants, to the watershed, to Maui bees. I always thought it would be a great idea for the community garden to have a booth at the fair, but organizing the volunteers for the booth is a big task, like herding cats.

Oooh!  The scary brown tree snake that ate Guam.
Let's keep it out of Hawaii. 

7. It’s a good place to take a first date!  There are thrills, things to nosh, live entertainment, opportunities to impress your date, and places to kiss in the dark. 

8. You love plants and want to look at a lot of orchids or many different kinds of fruits and vegetables. You want to know what grows on Maui. 

Vanilla bean orchid with pods

Did you know allspice grows on Maui?

Bamboo shoots grown on Maui. 

9. If you have a business or nonprofit to promote on a big scale on Maui, this is a great place to reach out to a lot of residents. 

10.You want to support your local church, community group or nonprofit by buying food etc. from them, or by helping at their booth. 

‘Nuff said. 

The parade starts this afternoon. For the full schedule and parking info, visit the Maui Fair's website. Or read here about my take on the Fair from last year. 

Confession: After convincing myself to go to the Fair this year, I didn't make it. But you can read about the Fair 2012 on MauiShopGirl's site.