Mack envisions making the Dream Weekend a signature destination event for Hawaii, and to that end he’s brought in big stars like Usher, Marshmello and Snoop Dog to play at Aloha Stadium. Concert promoter Jonny Mack has been producing big events in Hawaii since 2003 as a partner with the Dream Weekend Hawaii Music Festival, the Hallow-Baloo Music and Arts Festival in Chinatown and the New Year’s event at Aloha Tower. The result: a posh event that normally hosts 7,500 over three weeks, including thousands of well-heeled travelers, will now host about one third of that, Yamaguchi said.Īnd things are even worse for other event organizers. Concert promoter Jonny Mack has spent years building a music festival in Hawaii, but even as the economy reopens, this year’s event is in peril because of COVID-19 restrictions and other factors. “We are basing what we are doing in October on rules today,” she said. The issue: although restrictions might be lifted by October, when the festival is held, Yamaguchi said she can’t count on it. “The events are going to be much smaller,” said Denise Hayashi Yamaguchi, founder and chief executive of the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival. It’s not merely capacity limits, testing and social distancing rules that present a problem, events executives say, it’s also the difficulty of planning events months into the future when rules might change. Things like special events face bigger burdens. Restaurants, for instance, still can only use 75% of their seating capacity, and they’re relatively lucky. The latest change in the travel rules, which goes into effect today, is expected to boost tourism more, even as some businesses that serve tourists can’t fully reopen. In the meantime, although the hospitality business has opened fully and bounced back substantially, driven by a daily average of more than 32,000 passenger arrivals per day so far this month, some industries remain hamstrung by restrictions limiting things like the size of gatherings and social distancing requirements. David Ige has shown no sign of changing his plan, which calls for lifting restrictions only when 70% of the population is vaccinated. Josh Green, has said that might change early next month, Gov. state with such restrictions still in place, the Associated Press reported this week. Hawaii moves a step closer to reopening its economy Thursday by letting tourists sidestep COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements by showing proof of vaccination, but numerous businesses are still suffering from restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus.
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