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As the Punahou Carnival this weekend finally opens to the public for the first time since 2020, the popular event is still suffering a pandemic hangover: It will be minus some signature features usually provided by E.K. Fernandez Shows, including large “thrill rides” such as the Ferris wheel, Zipper and bumper cars, as well as its major games section.
“Rides will be limited to kiddie rides this year,” a news release from the school said. “Unfortunately, E.K. Fernandez has advised us that they will not offer Punahou use of their thrill rides or games this year. Punahou expects to offer a wide range of additional games of our own.”
About 10 “kiddie rides” by E.K. Fernandez still will be offered at the carnival, including the merry-go-round, fun house and big slide, but financial difficulties brought on by almost two years of pandemic restrictions preclude the company from doing more, said its owner and president, Scott Fernandez.
Punahou School emphasizes that it will continue to offer its “greatest hits” at the carnival on Friday and Saturday, including sales of its renowned malasadas, Portuguese bean soup, Hawaiian-food plate and mango chutney; white elephant sale; art gallery; and four performances of its Variety Show, “Bread,” with a cast of about 400 students and all original music, Punahou Communications Director Robert Gelber said.
Despite the changes, the school is “just really grateful to be able to have the carnival back again and have the community and the public be welcomed to our campus to enjoy the food and festivities, and see what our students have put together,” Gelber said. “That is what we are focusing on.”
This year’s carnival, themed “Pun Prix ’23: Pedal to the Metal,” is run by more than 4,500 volunteers, including students, parents and alumni, Gelber said. About 140,000 malasadas are sold each year.
Fernandez said he wishes his company could provide all the usual services for the carnival at Punahou, his alma mater, as well as other schools’ carnivals and community events, but his company was devastated financially when entertainment events his company relied on were halted under COVID-19 restrictions. He said he lost 85% of net income, government aid didn’t make up for all of it, and many of his staff moved to the mainland cities where events were not as restricted. With the pandemic continuing, he is hesitant to rebuild yet.
In past years E.K. Fernandez provided about 24,000 square feet of games at the Punahou carnival along with multiple large thrill rides. But with the loss of staff, including experienced veterans, Fernandez said, setting up and tearing down large attractions now takes more than twice as long.
The 120-year-old kamaaina family company still plans to offer a full midway of rides and games at the 50th State Fair, usually held in May, but “we no longer have the capacity to do these smaller events,” Fernandez said.
The Punahou Carnival has been a community tradition since its founding in 1932. Punahou — which bills itself as the largest coeducational, independent K-12 school on a single campus in the U.S., with nearly 3,750 students — uses the carnival to raise money for financial aid for its students. But after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, nearly all of the carnival went virtual in 2021, except for drive-thru food pickups. In 2022, a scaled-back, one-day version of the event was offered only to current Punahou students and school employees and their families.
PUNAHOU CARNIVAL
>> When: 11 a.m. to 11 p. m., Friday and Saturday
>> Where: Punahou School campus, 1601 Punahou St.
>> Cost: Free admission
>> Tickets: Scrip available for purchase throughout carnival with credit or debit card; one location will accept cash.
>> On the net: punahou.edu/carnival
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