Dazzling delight

Honolulu Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a bang a big one.

The Nagaoka Fireworks Show is bigger than ever this year, with a 20-minute show to cap off the three-day festival that celebrates friendship and cooperation among Hawaii and its Pacific Rim neighbors.

The festival, based at the Hawaii Convention Center, includes the annual Grand Parade, which precedes the fireworks display on March 9.

This year, the display will use four barges filled with fireworks, instead of the usual three, off Waikiki Beach fronting the Queens surf break. The show, which starts at 8:30 p.m., is five minutes longer than in the past.

It will be the third year the Nagaoka Fireworks Show has been a part of the Honolulu Festival. The city of Nagaoka, in the Niigata prefecture of Japan, is renowned for its spectacular fireworks display. Nagaoka became a sister city to Honolulu in 2012, so having the show as part of the festival is a natural fit.

"It’s to celebrate the strong bond between the two cities and to promote world peace," said the festival’s public relations representative, Eriko Kuwabara. She said while the best view of the fireworks is from Waikiki Beach, she’s heard of people who have been able to see the display from as far away as Manoa.

"Mikoshi" (portable Shinto shrines) big and small will make their way down Kalakaua Avenue during the festival’s Grand Parade, which starts at 4:15 p.m. at Fort DeRussy and ends at Kapiolani Park. Dozens of groups from the Pacific Rim are expected to take part, including representatives from Hawaii, Japan, China, Taiwan, Australia and Samoa.

The festival officially opens March 7, but the free public activities and entertainment at the Hawaii Convention Center are March 8 (10 a.m.-6 p.m.) and 9 (10 a.m.-3 p.m.).

While moms and dads check out the craft fair, younger children can play games and win prizes at the Ennichi Corner. Giving keiki a taste of "ennichi" festivals in Japan, the corner includes games like yo-yo fishing, goldfish scoop, a shooting gallery, goblet toss, ring toss, darts and kendama. Other activities include dressing up in "yukata," creating "ema" (small wooden wishing plaques) and origami folding.

For teens and young adults, the Anime Corner features a cosplay cafe where the wait staff, dressed as maids and butlers, occasionally break out in dance

Stefanie Nakasone, Star-Advertiser

Plantation event targets families

Dole Plantation usually hosts more tourists than locals, but on Saturday residents are invited to Family Fun Day.

The free event will have Central Oahu community groups and schools running arts and crafts, food and keiki game booths to raise funds for their programs.

There will be hula and music performances throughout the festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a kendama and yo-yo demonstration from the Razor Krew at 12:15 p.m.

While there, check out the giant Pineapple Garden Maze, which in 2008 was declared the world’s largest maze. The maze covers more than 3 acres and includes nearly 2.5 miles of pathway and 14,000 plants.

One regular $5 admission will admit two people on Family Fun Day, and the recently enhanced Pineapple Express Train Tour will be offered at the reduced fare of $6 for adults and $4.75 for children. Kamaaina also receive a 15 percent discount on most merchandise in the Dole Plantation store.

Dole Plantation is at 64-1550 Kamehameha Highway in Wahiawa. Call 220-4981 or visit dole-plantation.com for information.

Steven Mark, Star-Advertiser

Classic Grimm fairy tale updated with new ending

"Hansel and Gretel," one of the grimmest of Grimms’ fairy tales, has been entertaining and scaring kids for two centuries, and with good reason. Consider the plot:Two innocent children, Hansel and Gretel, are abandoned by their parents an evil stepmother is traditionally the instigator and end up in the clutches of an evil witch who plans to kill and eat them.

No "spoiler alert" warning should be necessary before mentioning that the story has a happy ending: Gretel pushes the witch into the witch’s oven and bakes her alive, the kids discover a cache of jewels in the witch’s home and when they return home with their riches, they find that their evil stepmother has died as well.

But that’s the story of "Hansel and Gretel" that we all know. Hawaii Theatre has something different in store for audiences from preschool through eighth grade next weekend with guest director Peggy Ann Siegmund’s original adaptation, "Hansel and Gretel:The Real Story."

The "Real Story" strays from the traditional plot in places, most notably at the end when the children are reunited with their birth mother, but also includes modernized bits, such as some "Gangnam Style" action.

Kids will enjoy the staging, which includes dancing trees, flying bird puppets and comic sound effects.

Veteran actress and comedian Cathy Foy plays the beautiful wicked witch, and two talented young performers Brenton Cooke and Brooke Johnson take on the roles of Hansel and Gretel.

John Berger, Star-Advertiser