Guided Hikes | Exhibits | Workshops | Food Vendors | Native Plant Giveaway | Silent Auction
The 13th Annual Wiliwili Festival will be held on Saturday, February 10th from 9am-3pm at the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve. The Wiliwili Festival is a FREE public educational event for the whole family!
Wiliwili are keystone species in the lowland dry forest and this year’s festival will give you the opportunity to see these beautiful trees in their natural environment! The Wiliwili Festival will feature exhibitors presenting activities and educational materials at booths set up along the preserve access road.
At Hale Hana Hou, within the preserve, there will be a native plant giveaway, and opportunities to ask the experts about plant propagation, growing, and care. Food and beverages will be available for purchase as well as Waikōloa Dry Forest merchandise including t-shirts featuring this year’s beautiful artwork.
Guided tours of the forest will be offered by our friends at Hawai’i Forest & Trail every hour. HFT’s knowledgeable guides have become ambassadors of our forest and helped collect millions of native seeds through their weekly giveback tour that visits the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve. Hiking, exploration, and self-guided tours are always an option!
Throughout the day we’ll have several free workshops including a presentation two Native Planting workshops presented by the Big island Invasive Species Committee and Forestry and Wildlife. Registration for two workshops is required, all others are open to all.
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- 9:30am: Waikōloa Dry Forest Update with WDFI staff
- 10:00am: Native Planting Workshop REGISTER HERE
- 11:00am: Seed Germination Tutorial
- 12:00pm: Ti Leaf Lei Making
- 1:00pm: Native Planting Workshop REGISTER HERE
- 2:00pm: Birds Hawai’i Past Present
About the site: The Wiliwili Festival is held within a natural area with few improvements. Participants will be outside and walking along a gravel road and uneven terrain on hiking trails. Please come prepared with a refillable water bottle, sun protection, and solid footwear. We will have golf-cart shuttles between the parking area and the preserve’s front gate throughout the day. Quarry Road Turnoff Location. Map of Parking Area.
About the artwork: Created by WDFI’s Education Coordinator Keisha Colon, this year’s artwork pays homage to one of our most beloved trees: Hi‘ialo. Hi‘ialo is an elder tree in the preserve that partially collapsed just days before the 2023 Wiliwili Festival. Since then, we’ve providing extra care for the tree and it still persists at the entrance of the preserve. Pele holds the branch of the wiliwili in hi‘ialo, meaning “to carry on the front, such as a child”
About our sponsors: Thirteen years of the Wiliwili Festival has only been possible because of our dedicated community. Some of our sponsors have been with us since our beginnings, others have joined in as they’ve joined the Waikōloa community. We’re honored and grateful for our business supporters who believe in bringing the community together around our conservation efforts. Mahalo nui to our partners at:
Waikōloa Plaza | Hawai’i Forest & Trail | Hawai‘i Water Service | The Waikōloa Foundation | Goodfellow Bros. | AES Hawai‘i | Forest Solutions Inc. | Noguchi & Associates
