Haleiwa Farmer’s Market taro festival draws 8,000 visitors

HALEIWA—The popular Haleiwa Farmer’s Market (HFM) that draws thousands each Sunday at it’s location in Haleiwa, drew 8,000 visitors to its special Taro Festival last weekend. On Wednesday HFM co-founder and manager Pamela Boyer called the festival a resurgence with the taro farmers.

The approximately 18 month-old market grows bigger each Sunday. Both visitors and vendors grow in numbers, with the entrance area of the market now dotted with new vendors.

In April, HFM marked their highest attendance with 3,000 visitors for the market’s first birthday, a number Boyer was very proud of. “We are just so grateful for the support, so so grateful,” said Boyar. “We’ve grown so much in the last year thanks to community support.”

The “green” market doesn’t permit vendors to hand out plastic bags and provides recycling bins for customers to dispose in, recognizing the movement in green consciousness for Oahu residents.

“I think that a market this big is really representative of a change in people’s attitudes,”  said Lynn, a regular market-goer. “People are making a choice to support local producers, bring a reusable shopping bag, and still get pretty much everything you need in one place.”

According to Worldwatch.org, Americans throw away roughly 100 billion plastic bags each year, something HFM is making an effort to reduce with their no-plastic-bag policy, inspiring customers to bring their own reusable shopping bags.

Visit the Haleiwa Farmer’s Market every Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the north side of Haleiwa Beach Park.