It’s just a few hours after you touched down in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. You haven’t eaten since you boarded your plane in Los Angeles, Denver or whatever unseasonably cold East Coast city you crawled out of, and the new, tropical heat is starting to line the inside of those jeans with sweat. You’re not hallucinating, that’s a human-sized box of spam approaching you! Don’t bite into it.
Only at the Waikiki Spam Jam festival will you find Hawaiian vibes and such a wide range of dishes made with spam: spam ramen, spam and eggs, spam pizza, spam nachos — even the desserts have it. The state of Hawaii consumes more spam than any other in the country, if not at this festival alone.
The annual Waikiki Spam Jam is held along Kalakaua Avenue and hosts a few dozen vendors who work spam into their dishes over its two-week run. When you’re not trying different dishes, you can head to one of the festival’s three entertainment stages to hear music from local artists in the Jam half of this event. The entertainment lineup is full of local talent, and the performance schedule for all three stages can be viewed here.
Participating restaurants for the street festival include: 604 Restaurant, Aloha Beer, Asato Family, Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood, Buho Cocina Y Cantina, Dukes Waikiki, Eating House 1849, Hula Grill Waikiki, Khan Skewer, Kirin Restaurant, La Bettola, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, Maui Brewing Co., Moani Waikiki, Namikaze, Stripsteak and Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt. In all, 30 restaurants will have booths.
Waikiki Spam Jam is a big fundraiser for The Hawai’i Foodbank and also contributes to the Waikiki Community Center and The Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii.
The Specs
- Around 35,000 people attend each year.
- Admission is free. Spam is not.
- Read Fifty Grande’s guides on where to visit in Hawaii next here.
FAQs
Where does the festival take place?
Spam Jam will be held along Waikiki Beach’s Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Where is the nearest airport?
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport is closest to the festival.
When does the event take place?
Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Are there any age restrictions?
No, this is a family-friendly event open to all ages.
It’s my first time going. What can I expect?
Spam Jam is less a festival and more of a large block party in the heart of Waikiki.The event takes Waikiki’s main drag and turns it into a walkable spam tribute via myriad of spam dishes (spam musubi, of course, but also things like spam hula pie which involves ice cream) and there may even been a sculpture made from cans of spam. It’s unique.
How/why did this become an event?
The Outrigger claims to have a hand in the fest’s creation: “…for the Waikiki Spam Jam festival, its roots stem from a simple idea during Housekeeping Week celebrations at Outrigger…”
Festival Promo
Videos