The Hawaii Food and Wine festival will bring culinary-inspired events and celebrity chefs to multiple islands over the month of October.
Now in its eighth year, the festival includes events on Oahu, Hawaii Island and Maui. There are several multicourse tasting dinners, events for kids, numerous wine tastings and workshops.
The schedule opens Oct. 6 on the Island of Hawaii with the "Under the Tuscan Sun" six-course tasting dinner at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa and closes on Oct. 28 with a gala tribute dinner in honor of influential French chef Paul Bocuse, who died in January. The event at Halekulani in Waikiki will feature a six-course, wine-paired dinner. The lineup of more than 150 participants is peppered with Top Chef alums, Michelin star recipients and James Beard award winners, such as Michael Voltaggio, Francois Payard, Michael Mina, Masaharu Morimoto, Hubert Keller, Michelle Bernstein and George Mavrothalassitis.
The event chairs are Alan Wong and Roy Yamaguchi, and a portion of proceeds go to local food sustainability, cultural, and educational programs. Since its launch the festival has donated more than $2 million to various community organizations. In its eight-year history the festival has expanded from a three-day festival with 30 chefs in Waikiki, to more than 20 events with 10,000 attendees on three islands over the course of an entire month.