Organizers of the 36th annual Okinawan Festival said they underestimated how many people would attend the popular cultural event at its new indoor venue — the Hawai‘i Convention Center — calling it a “huge success.”

Despite the long lines and crowded rooms, most festivalgoers said they enjoyed the two-day Labor Day weekend event at its new, cooler — thanks to air conditioning — home. Festival organizers said about 56,000 people attended over both days. The average in previous years was about 40,000.

The decision was made to change the location to the convention center because of the uncertainty of the weather. In 2016 the festival was canceled due to a hurricane threat. A dwindling number of volunteers with trades skills necessary to erect a stage, cultural and food booths also was a factor.

But some missed the event’s longtime home, Kapiolani Park in Waikiki.

“I prefer Kapiolani Park, but my mom likes it here because it’s air-conditioned,” Ryan Miyashiro, 45, said.

He waited 1-1/2 hours in line for the yaki soba. “I feel like they didn’t expect to have as large a crowd,” he said. “I think there were more kids last year at the park.”

Joanne Nakata, 72, said it took 20 minutes just to get into the parking garage. (There was an alternate parking site accessible by shuttle.) She said the craft area should have been in a bigger room because people got tangled getting in and out. “It’s a mess.”

Lynn Miyahira Krupa, spokeswoman for the Hawaii United Okinawan Association’s festival, said, “It was nuts, people lining up at the front door since 7 a.m.” The doors didn’t open until 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.

“A lot of booths sold out,” she added. “Food lines were a lot longer. We’re figuring out the process for that. There’s a steep learning curve.”

On the upside, performers had a bigger stage and dressing rooms. Seating was more plentiful, although families couldn’t stretch out on the grass to picnic, and restrooms were clean and nearby — no more portable toilets.

There were a lot of newcomers, who were “curious first-time festivalgoers,” Miyahira Krupa said. “We drew a different crowd.”

When the festival was at Kapiolani Park, Seikichi Toguchi, 83, said Justin Lam, his daughter’s fiance, “had to push me” over uneven ground.

Lam said he preferred the andagi at the park, where they deep-fried it fresh and customers got it hot. Some of the food was delivered to the convention center from off-site.

Joyce M. Oshiro, 54, said, “I love the awamori taste- testing. The music is (in an) enclosed (area), so you can hear it better. Even though you got to walk around to separate rooms, it’s cooler.”

The festival’s indoor setting allowed organizers to showcase cultural displays, videos and movies in the convention center’s rooms. That would have otherwise been difficult outdoors.

“We could share so much more upstairs,” Miyahira Krupa said, noting it’s also much cooler for those who pose for photos in traditional Okinawan costumes.