Instead, after browsing through a local calendar of events online, I saw that there was a Green Christmas Festival at the Historic Haleiwa Gym that sounded interesting. The description of the event said there would be eco-gifts, crafts, food, keiki activities, and more, and it sounded as if it would be like the Haleiwa Farmers' Market, but on a bigger scale.
So we headed down to Haleiwa mid-morning, and when we got to the Historic Haleiwa Gym, it was quite disappointing.
The "festival" itself was rather small, and there were very few attendees. There were about 10 booths--a couple selling food, drinks, and desserts, and most other booths were selling art, shirts, and hand-crafted items.There was nothing wrong with what the booths had to offer, but I was hoping that there would be a lot more--more booths, more selection, more food, and more keiki activities. There was only one keiki activity--a single bouncer.
I'm not sure if there was not enough notice given out to request vendors, inadequate advertising, or perhaps the venue or date was not appealing to many people, but it was indeed disappointing.
Perhaps it got more crowded in the evening (it lasted until 10pm), but even when we passed by on our way home in the afternoon, it was still quite empty.
Although the Green Christmas Festival was a disappointment, we made the most of our drive out to Haleiwa, enjoying the sights, sounds, and food, which I'll be posting about later.
Perhaps if another Green Christmas Festival is held in the future, hopefully there will be more vendors and more activities so it will draw more attendees.
ACK...I'm sorry to hear you had this kind of time there. Sad...maybe it was their first one and they just weren't organized and are still in a learning curve. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. You are a trooper however :)
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