Community Calendar

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 10:30 am - starting on January 3rd, 2025. Reservations are recommended. Call (808) 768-7135.

Here are some additional details:

Public Tours of Foster Botanical Garden resume in January 2025!

Volunteer docents will conduct tours on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., rain or shine.

Docents just completed a six-week training and are eager to engage the public meaningfully.

On these tours, docents will provide an overview and some details of some of the gardenʻs seven sections. No two tours are the same—different docents bring different background knowledge and life experiences. All are passionate about plants.

Please call (808) 768-7135 to reserve your spot.

Tours are limited to about 20 people and are included in the price of admission ($5 for visitors, $3 for residents, $1 for children).

For school or other organized groups, please call the number above to discuss differentiated tour options.

Foster Botanical Garden has a rich history and a world-renowned collection. Here are some quick facts:
-14 acre historic garden opened to the public in 1930
- Dedicated to the “people of Hawai’i” by Mary Elizabeth Mikahala Robinson Foster
- Portions once owned by Queen Kalama
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
- Oldest of the five gardens and the headquarters of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens
- Home to 21 “Exceptional Trees” protected by City Ordinance

“Yokai Parade: Supernatural Monsters from Japan” is a world-traveling exhibition produced by the prestigious Tokyo-based Japan Foundation. The exhibit presents Japan’s fascinating yokai culture through Japanese scrolls, woodblock prints, toys and films curated by Koichi Yumoto, regarded as one of Japan’s foremost experts on the subject. “Yokai Parade” traces the transformation of these supernatural beings from fearsome monsters to less scary – even charming – figures through contemporary media arts.

This exhibit is a collaboration between the renowned Japan Foundation, the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu, and the Hawaii Japanese Center in Hilo.

A fascination with yokai traveled from Japan to Hawaii along with the thousands of Japanese immigrants who traversed the Pacific Ocean to work as laborers on Hawaii’s sugarcane plantations in the 1800s to the early 1900s. Taking on a form and identity of their own in Hawaii, yokai are better known in the islands as “obake.”

The importance of legends, myths, ghosts, and the supernatural in general was shared by the many ethnic groups in Hawaii, from the indigenous Hawaiians to Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Puerto Rican, Filipino and other immigrants who settled in the islands.

“Yokai Parade: Supernatural Monsters from Japan” will run from August 2 to August 30 at the Hawaii Japanese Center, 751 Kanoelehua Avenue in Hilo. Public viewing hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, email info@hawaiijapanesecenter.com or call (808) 934-9611.

All Literature and Fiction books will be on sale at 50% off for the month of August. If you haven't finished your summer reading then stop by as the shelves are always being restocked and Pop-up sales are frequent.

The Bookstore also has DVDs, CDs, audio books, records, anime, comics, games, puzzles and so much more at great prices. Please note that Statehood day will be Friday August 15th and all libraries will be closed.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Vogue, Parade

Tell Me Everything is a hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.

Additional copies of the novel will be available at Kahuku Public and School Library and/or may be requested from other libraries within HSPLS.

Not all the selections for the upcoming months have been made. Please join us and help us decide what to read next!

Recommended for ages 18 and over.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity should contact library staff as soon as possible.

Advance requests 48 hours or more before the event are encouraged but not required.

Enjoy live music from the talented local guitarist and singer, Kalau. He will be performing relaxing classic hula and hapa haole music at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand, Waikiki, from 6pm to 9pm each Friday. The event is free and welcome to adults 21+.

The Palace Theater is proud to present STREETLIGHT CADENCE live in concert as part of the Centennial Year concert series. Proceeds raised from ticket sales support the ongoing interior restoration of the Historic Palace Theater.

An undying sense of adventure has anchored Streetlight Cadence since their humble beginnings as street performers in Honolulu. Their punkish energy on acoustic instruments intertwines with intimate storytelling to create a band that has scored numerous placements on Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart, two Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for Alternative Album of the Year, and an Emmy® nomination for their self-produced television series, “Will Play For Food”.

The power trio consists of Jon Andrew Franklin (violin), Ben Chai (banjo), and Clara Stegall (guitar), and have been compared with the likes of The Avett Brothers, The Lumineers, and Of Monsters and Men.

"Smother" is a hilarious play about Marcia, a bossy but well-intentioned mother, who cooks up increasingly outlandish schemes to control her daughter, Julia's, love life. Unfortunately, Julia has a track record of hooking up with loser boyfriends, and Marcia vows to change that. Ultimately, Marcia learns by seeking professional help, and through the efforts of those who love her, how to let go.....maybe.

Tiny Beautiful Things is a deeply moving play that brings to life the “Dear Sugar” online advice column written by bestselling author Cheryl Strayed (Wild). When an anonymous advice columnist responds to heartfelt letters from strangers, the personal stories that unfold are a compassionate and poetic exploration of love, grief, vulnerability, and forgiveness. Brilliantly adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), this intimate theatrical experience is a celebration of the power of storytelling and all the tiny, beautiful moments that remind us of our shared humanity.

Farmers and Artisan market

Hawaii's longest running and most advanced community youth choir is enrolling for our 65th season! Welcoming ALL students grades k - 12. NO previous experience necessary! Weekly rehearsals on Saturday mornings at the University of Hawaii Manoa Music Department. Make new friends, learn music from around the world and the Pacific Rim, folk music, opera, hula, theater etc. For more information and to enroll your child please visit www.hyoc.org