The 50th State Fair, held every summer on Oahu, is one of the season’s highlights for people of all ages, especially school aged-children looking for some exhilarating and safe fun.  Located centrally to many Oahu Neighborhoods, the Aloha Stadium hosts the annual event, held for six of seven weekends in May and June.  Although an admission fee is charged for everyone attending the carnival, this fee helps to cover the expenses of non-charged activities.  Free activities, or those attractions available at no additional charge above the admission cost, include a circus thrill show, pig races, hypnotist shows, a keiki talent show competition, celebrity meet and greets, and a number of other shows.

Some of the more popular performances charge an additional fee.  In 2009, dance crews from MTV’s hit television show “America’s Best Dance Crew” were featured and often other singers and artists are showcased.  The main attraction of the fair, however, is the rides and food.  Operated by E. K. Fernandez Shows, discounted wristbands are sold to provide cheaper ride tickets, although individual ride tickets can also be purchased.  The best part of having the fair at Aloha Stadium is the expansive parking lots that can easily accommodate all fairgoers.

NCL America, Norwegian Cruise Line’s American brand operates a single ship, the Pride of America, exclusively on inter-island cruises.  The brand was created in 2005 to provide 7-day cruises that started in Honolulu and visited Nawiliwili, Kauai; Kahului, Maui; Hilo, Hawaii; and Kona, Hawaii.  These itineraries were created to add time in ports and remove the 3-day roundtrip to Kiribati that were required of foreign-built ships.
The Pride of America was the first large, newly-built US-flagged cruise ship to be built in fifty years.  The ship’s crew, per U.S. law, is primarily American laborers, which is an exorbitant cost relative to international crews on other Norwegian Cruise Line ships.

However, to this day, the Pride of America is the only ship offering 7-day cruises in Hawaii without a foreign port of call, a large competitive advantage over other cruise lines that begin voyages in California and include Mexico in the itinerary.  At one point, two other NCL ships were in the Hawaii fleet with American crews: Pride of Hawaii and Pride of Aloha, although those two ships were re-flagged and returned to the international fleet following a softening of the Hawaii cruise market.  Nonetheless, the increase in the inter-island cruise industry has also led to an increase in Honolulu
rentals, used for pre- and post-cruise packages.

A portion of Oahu Hawaii real estate is dedicated to the Kapiolani Regional Park, the largest and oldest public park in the state located in Honolulu on the east end of Waikiki. Created in 1876 during the time of King David Kalaukaua and since 1913 has been under the management of the City and County of Honolulu.  The park includes tennis courts, soccer fields, an archery range, and multipurpose greens used for cricket, rugby, football, lacrosse, and field volleyball.  A path that goes around the circumference of the park is a two-mile trail that is popular with joggers.  The Honolulu Cricket Club is based at the park and is the oldest sporting club in the Pacific, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The park is home to the Waikiki Shell, an open air amphitheater that hosts a number of concerts, presentations, and other events during the year.  The Honolulu Zoo is also located in Kapiolani Park.  The zoo houses thousands of different animals and makes them available for visitors to view on a daily basis.  Conveniently located on the edge of Hawaii’s largest tourist district, the zoo and Waikiki Shell round out the wonderful park that has become one of the area’s best attractions.