"There are thousands of stories in the coffee land and in the history of life in early Kona." That line comes from the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival's listing for a Tuesday night reading at Aloha Theatre this November. The address on that listing is 79-7384 Hawaii Belt Rd., Kealakekua. Three other festival events that week list that address or the one next to it.
The 2026 festival runs November 6 through 15. Read its schedule by place rather than by date, and the Kealakekua part takes a clear shape. It falls between Monday and Wednesday, plus one Saturday, and nearly all of it sits within a short walk at the Kainaliu end of the highway.
The weekend events are in Kailua and Holualoa
The festival's first and last weekends are mostly up the road. On Friday, November 6, the Made in Hawaiʻi Artisan Market, the Lantern Parade from Kailua Pier and the Multicultural Showcase all happen at or near Hale Halawai County Pavilion. On Saturday, November 7, the Holualoa Coffee and Art Stroll fills Holualoa Village, and the Miss Kona Coffee Scholarship Competition is that evening at the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa. On Sunday, November 8, the KTA Super Stores Kona Coffee Recipe Contest returns to the Outrigger. The closing Saturday, November 14, starts with the 100% Pure Kona Coffee Half Marathon at 6:00 a.m. at Coconut Grove Marketplace, followed by the Hoʻolauleʻa at Makaeʻo Pavilion.
For a Kealakekua household, that means the weekend events take a drive north. The midweek events are close to home.
Four nights at the Kainaliu end of the Belt Road
The block works as one venue because three businesses share it. Aloha Theatre and The Theatery both use 79-7384 Hawaii Belt Rd. Hale Cocoa is next door at 79-7378 Mamalahoa Highway. Puna Chocolate Company, which runs Hale Cocoa, describes its building as nearly 80 years old. Over the years it has been a theater rehearsal space and a car repair garage at the gateway to South Kona, and it now has 14 acres of farmland behind it. Here is the festival week on that block:
- Monday, November 9. The 5 Course Coffee-Flavored Supper Club at The Theatery, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Chef Stewart Woodman serves a salad, an appetizer, two mains and a dessert, each made with coffee and each introduced by the chef. Guests can watch the plating. Seating is capped at 36, and tickets are $95 plus the $10 festival button, sold through the festival website.
- Tuesday, November 10. Old Time Kona Stories, Volume 1 at Aloha Theatre. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6:00. General admission is $15, and the button is required for ages 12 and up.
- Wednesday, November 11. The Kona Espresso Martini & Coffee Cocktail Competition at Hale Cocoa, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Big Island bartenders compete in two categories, best Espresso Martini and best Coffee Cocktail, with first and second place in each. Entry is free with a festival button, and the event is limited to ages 21 and over.
- Saturday, November 14. The Grand Finale at The Theatery, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., listed at 79-7384 Hawaiʻi Belt Rd # B. Tickets are $150 per person plus the button, and six tables of ten are offered at $1,500. The evening includes two drink tickets, a chef-curated, multi-course "Taste of Kona" menu, a dessert table, and dancing to Ms. Demeanor & the Felons. As of the listing, tickets were "available soon" through the festival website.
The first three nights run back to back. The festival's other evening events those nights are in Kailua-Kona, among them Kona Coffee Barista Training at Kona Coffee & Tea on Monday and the Nani Keao Mele Mele Concert & Okonomiyaki at Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Social Hall on Wednesday.
Tuesday pairs a daytime farm visit with an evening of stories
Tuesday is the one day when the festival's history events in South Kona line up. Kona Historical Society opens its Kona Coffee Living History Farm at 82-6199 Mamalahoa Hwy. in Captain Cook on November 6, 10 and 13, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with last entry at 1:15. The visit is self-guided. Visitors walk among the coffee trees, see traditional milling and drying equipment and a 1920s farmhouse, and talk with costumed interpreters who demonstrate crafts, farm work and household tasks. Admission is $15 plus the button, or $10 for Hawaiʻi residents plus the button, and it is sold on site.
That evening, Aloha Theatre picks up the same era in a different format. The program draws on Old Time Kona Stories, Volume 1, a collection of essays first presented in 1998 by the Japanese American National Museum and the Kona Japanese Civic Association. Some of the authors' family members and local performers read the stories aloud in a radio-style show with foley sound effects and entertainment. Soil Plus sponsors the event. Tickets are sold through APAC, and the listing points to Hale Cocoa Cafe next door for food and drinks before or after the show. On discounts, the listing gives a $10 rate for kupuna in two places, but it names "Little Keiki" in one and "students" in the other. Anyone counting on the lower price should ask at the box office.
Of the Living History Farm's three dates, only Tuesday lands on the same day as the theater evening. The farm's other days are Friday, November 6, the night of the Lantern Parade in Kailua, and Friday, November 13.
Greenwell Farms runs a free tour every day of the year
The fifth Kealakekua event on the schedule is at Greenwell Farms, 81-6581 Mamalahoa Hwy., farther south on the highway. The festival version runs November 9 through 13 at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Entry is free with a festival button, and the button is required for visitors over 12. For people who live nearby, the useful comparison is the farm's regular tour, which runs every day.
| Festival Seed to Cup tour | Greenwell's regular guided tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | November 9–13, 2026 | Daily, year-round |
| Times | 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. | Every half hour, 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. |
| Cost | Free with the $10 festival button | Complimentary |
| Reservations | None mentioned in the listing | Not required; arrive 10–15 minutes early |
| Stops listed | Nursery, farm, wet mill, dry mill, roasting, tasting | Farm and processing facilities, then a tasting |
Greenwell says its regular tours last 45 to 60 minutes over unpaved, uneven ground with mild slopes. Coffee is available to sample before and after, and the farm asks groups larger than 15 to book a private tour. A household that already holds buttons for the evening events adds nothing by taking the festival tour. A household that wants only a farm walk can take the regular tour any day without one.
What the button costs on this stretch
The festival button is $10 and covers 10 days of family events plus "special rates" on ticketed events. The schedule page lets children 5 and under in free. The Kealakekua event pages set their own age lines: over 12 for the Greenwell tour, 12 and up for the Aloha Theatre show, and 21 and up for the cocktail competition. Check the rule on each event's page before deciding how many buttons to buy. Buttons are sold at all festival events.
For one adult who goes to everything on the block plus the Tuesday farm visit, the listed prices add up like this. One $10 button. $95 for the Supper Club. $15 for the theater show. $150 for the Grand Finale. $10 for Living History Farm admission at the Hawaiʻi resident rate. The cocktail competition and the Greenwell tour cost nothing beyond the button. That comes to $280 for the week, and the Grand Finale accounts for more than half of it.
The block keeps its regular calendar around the festival
Aloha Theatre runs a full season on either side of the festival week. The Rocky Horror Show plays October 23 through November 1. The festival's opening night, November 6, brings Santana Tribute: Larry Dupio. The film series shows The Nightmare Before Christmas on November 7 and Edward Scissorhands on November 13. Nunsense opens November 20 and runs through December 6. The HI Line plays the theater at 7:00 p.m. on November 14, the same night as the Grand Finale next door.
Next door, regular hours continue through the week. Hale Cocoa's cafe and chocolate shop list daily hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with farm tours Wednesday through Saturday at 9:00 a.m., noon and 3:00 p.m. The Theatery lists dinner from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Its regular Supper Club, a five-course guided dinner, is priced at $113 per ticket on Tock. The festival's Monday version is $95 plus the button.
Brian Axelrod represents buyers and sellers of homes, land and Kona coffee farms across South Kona. If festival week has you thinking about land in this belt, or about what your Kealakekua property is worth, let's connect.
