The City and County of Honolulu is offering free Hawaiian language, hula and crafts classes in Waikiki.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced Wednesday that the classes will be held in the Kuhio Beach pavilion.

The classes will be held every Wednesday now through November 4. They will run from 9 a.m. until noon and will be taught by parks department staff.

Caldwell has been looking for ways to transform the formerly blighted pavilions. The structures had been a popular place for homeless people to rest until the city banned sitting and lying down on sidewalks in Waikiki last fall.

Another pavilion close to a police station in Waikiki is home to a bistro.