The Hawaii Foodie Con & Spring Expo is rolling back into Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall this weekend, promising a two-day feeding frenzy with more than 200 vendors under one roof and an expected 10,000 visitors streaming through the doors. The show lines up hot plates, packaged snacks, desserts and specialty drinks, with many booths set to serve on-site and box things up to-go for later.
The expo runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday’s main stage action includes Hawaiian Hot T’s hot-sauce face-off at 3 p.m., where the heat level is likely to climb fast. Twisted Sweets, known for its gourmet pretzels and listed among this year’s vendors, is on the floorplan, and visitors can graze on samples or grab full plates to take home, according to Hawaii News Now.
Organizers bill FoodieCon as Hawaii’s largest foodie convention, with more than 200 booths in total and roughly 100 of them devoted specifically to food. They are expecting about 10,000 people across the weekend. The producer has set a ground rule for anyone serving on-site: every food vendor must offer at least one $7 mini-plate so guests can sample widely without blowing the budget. The full floorplan, move-in schedule and exhibitor rules are posted online. For vendor details and logistics, the event page from Pacific Expos lays out the fine print.
Tickets and access
General admission is $6.50. Military members and seniors pay $4.50, Hawaii DOE educators get in free with a valid DOE or school ID, and children 12 and under are admitted free with an accompanying adult, according to GoHawaii. The tourism listing also points visitors back to the organizer for questions and suggests arriving early if you are serious about maximizing your tastings. Parking is available at the Blaisdell and in nearby garages, but those lots can fill up when a show is this big, so it is worth building in some extra time.
Why it matters
For many small food businesses, a weekend at FoodieCon is a relatively low-risk way to try out new menu items, introduce their brand to fresh faces and reach customers who might never pass their brick-and-mortar storefronts. Trade and consumer food expos pop up at the Blaisdell throughout the year, reinforcing the venue’s role as a central hub for local food commerce, according to the Hawaii Restaurant Association. For vendor inquiries or contest rules, organizers list contacts on the event page and keep a hot-sauce face-off information line at (808) 388-2935, as noted by Hawaii News Now.
