No fair

98th event canceled over coronavirus

The Maui Fair, a longstanding tradition that's only been canceled for two world wars, has been postponed until next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fair officials said that the county asked them to cancel the 98th event, which was scheduled to take place Oct. 1-4 and typically draws about 90,000 people for four days of food, contests, rides and games.

"I'm very saddened by it," Maui Fair Alliance President Avery Chumbley said Thursday. "I've been involved with the fair since 1985, . . . and I'm feeling really empty right now knowing that we won't be able to gather as a community. There's a generation of kids that have grown up looking forward to the fair."

While cases of COVID-19 have declined and the county is starting to roll back restrictions, both Chumbley and Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino, a former fair director, said the uncertainty wasn't worth the risk.

"From a public health standpoint there's two major points -- No. 1 is, what is going to be the spread of the virus situation four months from now?" Chumbley said. "While it may be declining today, is it possible that we could get caught up in a second wave? The second one is, we don't know what the limitations or restrictions are going to be under the governor's and mayor's emergency proclamations."

Chumbley said that it would be difficult to require social distancing at the fair. On Saturday, the busiest day, about 30,000 people pass through the fairgrounds at the War Memorial Complex.

Many other factors also played into the decision -- the fact that many families are unemployed and may not be able to afford a weekend at the fair, limited shipping schedules and uncertainty over whether the state Department of Public Safety would allow the fair to rely on a Workline crew from Maui Community Correctional Center for set up and breakdown.

The Maui Fair is a massive undertaking that often takes two and a half to three months to set up, Chumbley said. The first containers from entertainment company E.K. Fernandez Shows start to arrive about a month in advance. More than 40 nonprofits run the food booths and thousands of people march in the parade.

Chumbley said "we squeak by year to year" and that the most the fair has generated in recent years that he can recall is $30,000. Funds are carried over to be used for the following year's event.

"Without having a 98th Maui Fair in 2020, it doesn't mean that the Fair Alliance will have significant amounts of revenue coming in that can be used towards activities for the next year for 2021," he said. "We don't do things during the offseason that generate revenue, and we're still going to have expenses this year."

Since the first Maui Fair in 1916, which took place at Wells Park in Wailuku and featured Daisy the elephant, Chumbley said the fair has only been canceled four times -- once during World War I, which was around the same time as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and three times during World War II.

Cancellation of the fair and the state's closure orders have dealt a major blow to E.K. Fernandez Shows, which furnishes and manages the rides at the fair. President Scott Fernandez said in a statement Thursday that "my family and our employees are saddened by the news that we will not be participating in any of the Neighbor Island fairs this year" and also didn't expect the 50th State Fair to happen on Oahu.

Fernandez said that his family's third-generation, Native Hawaiian-led company has managed to survive for 117 years, through the Spanish flu, attack on Pearl Harbor and two world wars. 

"Unfortunately, E.K. Fernandez Shows is effectively closed for business with no income as a result of the executive orders, and, like many businesses, we have been excluded from the essential business category," he said. "As such, we will be forced to lay off long-term employees and reshape the future of our business, if it survives."

For many nonprofits, schools and clubs, the fair is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year.

The Rev. Shinkai Murakami said Wailuku Hongwanji Mission has been serving chow fun to fairgoers for more than 50 years.

"People know our church as a chow fun temple," he said.

Wailuku Hongwanji sells about two tons of noodles during the fair and rakes in about $60,000 to $70,000. Between the fair and Maui Matsuri, which was supposed to take place this month and helps fund the temple's operations, Murakami said they will miss out on a lot of income.

"It's not only for the money, but Maui Fair (provides some) of the most enjoyment for the Maui people, especially for the children," Murakami said. "I was living on Oahu, and Oahu, they have lots of fairs. . . . But Maui, we have only once in the year, and a lot of people are really looking forward to the Maui Fair."

The Rev. Florentino "Tino" Cordova said Iao United Church of Christ has been serving frosty POG and lemonade at the fair for 17 years. The popular beverages, a brainchild of church members who concocted the idea after services one Sunday, bring in $40,000 to $48,000.

"That's a big chunk out of our annual church budget," said Cordova, who has cut back his hours to help the church save money during the pandemic.

Cordova said the church is considering drive-thru frosty POG and lemonade sales to help recoup the costs lost from the fair. However, they'll miss the hustle and bustle of running a booth.

"It's this sense of everyone coming together, and it's just like a well-greased machine, especially the kupuna who have been doing it for quite some time who came up with the ingredients for the frosty POG," Cordova said. "I think that sense of community is what we'll miss."

Ka'ahumanu Hou Christian School, which has been churning out the popular waffle cakes at the fair for the past three years, said the funds it raises go toward financial aid.

"It's unfortunate, but that's the cards we've been dealt now," said Keith Mueller, director of operations. "There's simply no way we could do it safely. Hopefully, this thing will blow over . . . and we can plan on something really big for the following year and make it something spectacular."

Mueller said he will miss the long hours spent in the booth with fellow volunteers. 

"Our line is outrageous," Mueller said. "Every year, we're looking at ways to better ourselves to make the line go faster and stuff, but sometimes it's just so many people, there's not much you can do but cook outrageously as much as possible."

Victorino, who's been involved in the fair for almost 30 years, said that he knows participating organizations will be hit hard. But, he pointed out, many haven't been spending as much this year because their events have been canceled.

"However, with that being said, I know it hurts everyone," he said. "I know organizations that I've been a part of or a member of, we will hurt for it, but we will figure a way to get by it, and hopefully in 2021 we will have the (98th) annual county fair here in Maui County again."

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.