Venues on Oʻahu

1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814

The largest open-air shopping centre in the world, and home of Centerstage — the mall-level stage where a free hula show runs every day at 3 PM, the only daily hula show we track. Also hosts keiki hula, music and holiday performances.

1201 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814

Honolulu's big waterfront park across from Ala Moana Center; Magic Island is the peninsula at its Diamond Head end and the usual site for large beach-cleanup gatherings.

1525 Bernice St, Honolulu, HI 96817

The state museum of natural and cultural history in Kalihi — Hawaiian Hall, the Pacific collections, a planetarium and a science centre — with a calendar of festivals, family days and evening programmes.

250 S Hotel St, Honolulu, HI 96813

The Hawaiʻi State Art Museum, renamed Capitol Modern in 2023 — a free museum of contemporary Hawaiʻi art in the No. 1 Capitol District Building downtown, with a sculpture garden, a café and free family 'Super Saturday' programming. Always free.

Nuʻuanu Ave & Hotel St, Honolulu, HI 96813

Honolulu's historic Chinatown gallery-and-restaurant blocks, centred on Nuʻuanu Avenue and Hotel Street — home of the First Friday art walk on the first Friday of every month, 5–9 PM, and a dozen small galleries and craft studios year-round.

1041 Nuʻuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96817

A nonprofit gallery and classroom space upstairs in Chinatown Gateway Plaza, with rotating exhibitions and a rolling calendar of art classes and workshops. One of the anchors of First Friday.

307C Kamani St, Honolulu, HI 96813

A design store, gallery and workshop space in Kakaʻako that runs one-off making sessions most weekends — ceramics (shisa figures, ring vases, kintsugi), watercolor, wagashi, scent-making, mah jong basics — typically $30–$375, booked online. The lowest-commitment way on the island to try a craft: one date, materials included, take it home.

Honolulu, HI

A statewide craft artists' organisation running exhibitions and hands-on ʻAha Hana Lima workshops in fibre, metal, glass, wood and clay, taught by practising makers. Workshop locations vary; each listing says where.

1130 Bethel St, Honolulu, HI 96813

A restored 1922 vaudeville house on the edge of Chinatown — the 'Pride of the Pacific' — and Honolulu's main room for touring comedy, concerts, Broadway names, film screenings and community showcases. Around 1,400 seats. Prices live in its ticketing system rather than on the season page, so click through for seats.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church Community Hall, 45 N Judd St, Honolulu, HI 96817

A member-run guild of weavers, spinners and dyers that opens its workshops and study groups to the public — floor-loom weaving, spinning, natural dye — from a church hall in Nuʻuanu. Registration is through Wild Apricot on its site.

900 S Beretania St, Honolulu, HI 96814

Hawaiʻi's largest art museum — an Asian, European, American and Pacific collection arranged around courtyards, with a cinema (the Doris Duke Theatre), a café and a busy programme of docent tours, gallery talks and free-with-admission drop-ins. Free for Hawaiʻi residents on Community & Family Sunday, the third Sunday of each month. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

1111 Victoria St, Honolulu, HI 96814

The teaching arm of the Honolulu Museum of Art, in the old Linekona School building across Victoria Street from the museum. It runs the deepest studio programme on Oʻahu — ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking, fiber arts and kids' courses — mostly as ten-week terms starting in October and January, plus a handful of one-evening workshops. Terms fill; the beginner wheel sections go first.

888 Mililani St #701, Honolulu, HI 96813

A member printmaking studio and gallery downtown, running workshops in relief, intaglio, screenprint and risograph plus open-studio access for members. Registration drops are announced on Instagram first.

Tenney Theatre, 229 Queen Emma Sq, Honolulu, HI 96813

One of the oldest professional theatres for young audiences in the US, performing at Tenney Theatre on the Cathedral of St. Andrew grounds downtown. Eight productions a season, September to May, tickets $15–$30, with original work rooted in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

1136 Nuʻuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96817

A leather-goods maker and shop in Chinatown that runs hands-on leathercraft workshops — bags, wallets, small goods — sold through its online store, dates announced there.

3659 Kalihi St, Honolulu, HI 96819

A 100-acre nature preserve at the back of Kalihi Valley run by Kōkua Kalihi Valley, where the community farms, reforests and gathers lāʻau lapaʻau. Weekly workdays are open to everyone from keiki to kūpuna.

419 South St Suite 163, Honolulu, HI 96813

Honolulu's improv comedy theatre and school — weekly shows and multi-week improv classes for beginners through performers, in a small black-box space in Kakaʻako.

2645 Dole St, Honolulu, HI 96822

A working loʻi kalo on the UH Mānoa campus, part of Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, fed by Mānoa Stream and open to the public on first Saturdays.

15 N Pauahi St, Honolulu, HI 96817

A craft studio in Chinatown — and the studio behind this site — running small-group make-and-take workshops six days a week: custom rug tufting, Turkish mosaic lamps, soy candles, resin jewellery, terrariums and sea-glass frames. Book any day; walk out with what you made. Ownership is disclosed sitewide.

46 Merchant St, Honolulu, HI 96813

A 100-seat theatre in the historic Kamehameha V Post Office building that stages only plays about Hawaiʻi — new work by local writers, in English and Pidgin. Founded in 1971; typically five productions a year, each running about a month. Tickets via Eventbrite.

2833 E Manoa Rd, Honolulu, HI 96822

An intimate theatre in a converted church in Mānoa, programming an eight-show season of musicals and plays that leans more adventurous than the big houses — recent Broadway titles, Pulitzer winners and Hawaiʻi-written comedies side by side. Prices are in its ticketing system.

Honolulu, HI

A small ceramics studio in Honolulu running wheel-throwing in short formats — a six-week beginner course, a three-session workshop and one-day hand-building — with weekday-evening and weekend sections. Prices are printed on its booking pages.

1164 Nuʻuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96817

An independent bookstore devoted to Hawaiʻi and the Pacific — Hawaiian-language titles, local authors, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi children's books — in the Arts & Letters building in Chinatown, with book launches, readings and writing workshops announced on Instagram and its newsletter.

777 Ward Ave, Honolulu, HI 96814

The city's 2,000-seat concert hall — home of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and the stop for touring Broadway and larger concerts — part of the Blaisdell Center complex with the arena and exhibition hall.

1052 Waimanu St, Honolulu, HI 96814

A nonprofit makerspace in Kakaʻako with a fabrication lab, event alley and creative lab, running artist talks (OurTalks), workshops, exhibitions and literary nights — mostly free, RSVP on Zeffy. Also hosts events for Hawaii Tech Week.

123 N Kuakini St, Honolulu, HI 96817

Seven and a half acres along Nuʻuanu Stream given to the city by the Queen, planted only with Hawaiian species. Free, rarely busy, and the setting for regular volunteer cleanup mornings a short walk from downtown.

1349 Kapiʻolani Blvd #30, Honolulu, HI 96814

Honolulu's mid-sized live-music club — touring bands, DJs, comedy and local showcases in a standing room near Ala Moana. Tickets through its site.

Victoria Ward Park, Auahi St, Honolulu, HI 96814

The Kakaʻako neighbourhood development whose park, Victoria Ward Park, hosts free 'Aloha Friday Music in the Park' on the third Friday of each month, 5–7 PM, and other free community events.

500 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96813

An office-and-restaurant complex on Ala Moana Boulevard at the edge of Kakaʻako, whose courtyard hosts the Taste of Aloha Night Market on the second Saturday of each month, 4–8 PM. Free entry.

Honolulu, HI

A classical-atelier painting and drawing school in Honolulu, teaching in the observational tradition — cast drawing, figure, portrait, still life — through scheduled workshops. It publishes dates but not prices, so we list the workshop and tell you to ask.

364 S King St, Honolulu, HI 96813

The only royal palace on US soil, home of the last two monarchs of the Hawaiian Kingdom, now a museum with guided and audio tours. Its lawn hosts the free Royal Hawaiian Band concerts most Fridays at noon — bring something to sit on.

2330 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815

The rebuilt Waikīkī shopping centre around its historic banyan tree, whose Queen's Court hosts the free 'O Nā Lani Sunset Stories' hula and storytelling show Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 PM, plus other cultural programming.

Kalākaua Ave at Uluniu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815

The grassy stage on the sand at Kūhiō Beach in Waikīkī, next to the Duke Kahanamoku statue, where the free Kūhiō Beach Hula Show happens every Saturday at 6:30 PM — the only free hula show on our calendar that's actually on the beach.

2201 Kalākaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815

The Waikīkī shopping centre with the densest free cultural programme on the island: a free lesson every weekday at 11:30 AM (ʻukulele, hula, lauhala, keiki hula, lei making) and live Hawaiian music in the open-air Royal Grove Tuesday to Saturday at 5:30 PM. No booking for any of it.

226 Lewers St, Honolulu, HI 96815

An open-air retail street off Kalākaua with a plaza stage that hosts free Hawaiian music and hula — Kū Haʻaheo every Tuesday at 4:30 PM plus one-off tributes and cultural shows. No ticket, standing or plaza seating.

4211 Waialae Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816

The multiplex at Kāhala Mall, and the main venue of the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival's spring and fall editions.

520 Makapuʻu Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816

Hawaiʻi's long-running community musical theatre, in a rebuilt house near Kapiʻolani Park — five big musicals a season, each a two-to-three-week run. Prices are published in its ticketing system rather than on the season page.

Honolulu, HI

The islands’ festival of Pacific and Asian cinema, running since 1981. HIFF has no permanent house — screenings move between Kahāla, the Doris Duke Theatre and partner venues — so check the individual listing for where a given film is actually showing.

Kalanianaʻole Hwy past Sandy Beach, Honolulu, HI 96825

The undeveloped stretch of coast between Sandy Beach and Makapuʻu, where 808 Cleanups runs weekly restoration sessions pulling invasive plants and litter from the dunes and lava shelf.

7491 Kokonani St, Honolulu, HI 96825

A dryland garden planted inside the basin of an extinct tuff cone, free to enter and open daily. Volunteer workdays run here most months — weeding, mulching and planting in the plumeria grove and the African and Hawaiian sections.

3457 Waialae Ave #203, Honolulu, HI 96816

A plant shop and café upstairs on Waialae Avenue in Kaimukī that doubles as a small event room — a free jazz and poetry night on the third Thursday of each month, plus plant workshops sold through its shop.

Ocean View Dr, Honolulu, HI 96816

The small hill above Kaimukī with 360° views, being replanted with natives by 808 Cleanups volunteers on Friday evenings.

3565 Harding Ave, Honolulu, HI 96816

An independent bookstore in Kaimukī, run by the Bess Press family, with author events, readings and the occasional workshop, announced on its site and Instagram.

98-535 Kaonohi St, ʻAiea, HI 96701

A newer shopping-and-dining centre in ʻAiea near Pearlridge, whose free night market runs on the last Wednesday of each month, 5–9 PM — the only weeknight market on our calendar in the ʻAiea/Pearl City area.

98-1005 Moanalua Rd, ʻAiea, HI 96701

The big Central Oʻahu mall in ʻAiea, and home of the Village Night Market every Saturday 5–9 PM — food trucks, craft and produce vendors, live music, free entry. The only weekly night market on our calendar in Central Oʻahu.

46-406 Kamehameha Hwy, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744

A 405-acre wetland and loʻi restoration in Heʻeia, growing kalo and native habitat on land that was sugar and then pasture. Volunteers plant, weed, clear invasive mangrove and help make poi.

46-077 Ipuka St, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744

An 800-year-old, 88-acre loko iʻa on Kāneʻohe Bay being restored wall by wall. Community workdays are twice a month and book up well ahead.

45-720 Keaʻahala Rd, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744

The performing-arts theatre on the Windward Community College campus in Kāneʻohe — a mid-sized hall used for concerts, community theatre and, this season, the Candlelight string-quartet series sold through Fever. The only Candlelight venue on the Windward side.

41-1300 Waikupanaha St, Waimānalo, HI 96795

The Nation of Hawaiʻi village at the back of Waimānalo, with loʻi and native plantings that host community ʻāina days.

41-741 Kalanianaʻole Hwy, Waimānalo, HI 96795

Three miles of windward sand backed by ironwood, with the Koʻolau behind it. Restoration mornings run in the dune system at the Muliwaiʻōlena end — clearing invasives and replanting native coastal species.

46-056 Kamehameha Hwy, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744

Kāneʻohe's mall, home of the free Koʻolau Night Market on the second Friday of each month, 5–9 PM — the only recurring night market on our calendar on the Windward side.

Coral Sea Rd, Kapolei, HI 96707

A quiet ʻEwa-side shoreline on the old Barbers Point base where 808 Cleanups restores native coastal plants each week.

91-1 Farrington Hwy, Kapolei, HI 96707

A long west-side beach named for the sugar railway that once ran behind it, and one of the most reliable spots on the island for an organised cleanup — the reef here traps debris that comes in on the current.

91-1621 Keoneʻula Blvd, ʻEwa Beach, HI 96706

The lagoon and surf-park complex in ʻEwa Beach, host of the free 'ʻOno Grindz & Mākeke' night market every Thursday 4–8 PM — food vendors, farmers-market stalls and live music by the water. The only weekly night market on our calendar on the Leeward side.

94-849 Lumiʻaina St, Waipahu, HI 96797

The shopping centre next to the Waikele outlets in Waipahu, host of the free 'What the Truck?!' food-truck night on the first and third Fridays, 4–8 PM.

106 Kealohanui St, Waialua, HI 96791

A community ceramics and arts centre in the old Waialua sugar-mill area, teaching wheel and hand-building classes to all ages — the only ceramics studio on our calendar on the North Shore. Booking is through Kilnfire.