Kona Coffee Cultural Festival

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year from November 5-14, 2010. It honors the multi-ethnic heritage of the pioneers, farmers and artisans of the brew on the Big Island of Hawaii.

The first coffee was planted in Kona (map) by missionary Samuel Ruggles in 1828 or 1829. These first arabica trees were taken from cuttings planted on Oahu a few years earlier. Today many Kona farmers can lay claim to being fifth generation coffee farmers.

Some of the 50 different events at this annual coffee harvest festival are the coffee cupping competition, coffee recipe contest, the Miss Kona coffee pageant, coffee picking contest, colorful parades and a collection of food, music, dance, arts and crafts from Kona’s diverse ethnic heritage. Visitors can take tours of working and historic Kona coffee farms, mills and roasting operations.

The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival is recognized and supported as a ‘Major Festival’ by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

What: Kona Coffee Cultural Festival
Where: Kailua/Kona Region, Big Island, Hawaii
When: November 5-14, 2010

(Photo courtesy of Kona Coffee Cultural Festival/KCCF)