Neal S Blaisdell Center

This review is for the «season’s best» craft fair… It was a joke.
Parking is $ 6 (you can park from open until close).
Entrance fee is $ 3/​person.
We got there early so there was no trouble getting a parking spot. I was totally fine with the $ 6 fee… At first. I was also fine with the $ 3 entrance fee per person until we were standing in line and some lady who worked the event started handing out tickets, asking if anyone needed any. I thought for sure people were going to pay her, NOPE, free tickets. I was so glad we just spent $ 9 on non-​refundable tickets. No wonder why they had that disclaimer.
I sucked up the $ 9 that could have been free and thought the craft fair would be worth it… Boy, was I ever wrong.
Do not come here if you’ve ever been to a mainland craft fair. Go to the swap meet, pay $ 1 per person to park and gain entrance, and save yourself $… In my case, $ 12.
This «season’s best craft fair» was anything but a craft fair. Since when is selling bought items a craft? I was so upset that I paid so much to come to something that was so similar to the swap meet. There were maybe a couple booths per aisle that were handmade items or something similar (printed decals that you could put on a hydro flask). I couldn’t even believe these vendors were allowed to sell at the «craft fair»… Go to the swap meet! I’ve been to many craft fairs, big and small, in different areas, and none were like this garbage. Normally it’s free (or a small fee to get in. Maybe $ 3 total for 3 people). Normally there are handmade crafts only… Handmade scarves, mittens, blankets, candles, jams/​jellies, paintings, jewelry, decorations, snacks/​goodies… I’ve NEVER seen store/​bulk bought items sold. I mean, I wasn’t expecting any mittens or scarves, but I surely wasn’t expecting bamboo pillows, vegetable peelers, massage chairs, swap meet items, boutiques, and more.
There were a few vendors who were selling handmade items (mostly jewelry), but not enough to even waste your time coming out. If this is the season’s best, I don’t even want to know what the other craft fairs are like.

If you look at the Blaisdell Center as a whole, it’s pretty impressive. There’s the arena, concert hall, exhibition hall, and parking structure. This is a pretty decent venue hosting events such as concerts, plays, sporting tournaments, craft fairs, graduations, and Farmers’ Market. It is relatively clean and centrally located. The parking is expensive, but I live nearby.
They are visible on social media, and ticketing can be accessed online. The Blaisdell is an asset to the community.
There’s a lotta history and a lotta memories here…

The teachers have a workshop today however, when coming into the lots the parking attendant has some attitude about me parking early and almost refused to allow me to park. Then when I find an UNMARKED space the attendant sppeds through the lot just to tell me I cant park there. I wasnt informed of their procedures for today which she couldve told me about. I think they should teach these attendants how to treat and speak to people. I gave it 1 star for poor customer service. Im really going to enjoy parking in the sun for 8 hours when there’s hundreds of stalls in the shade downstairs. It’s also the reason I came early to get decent parking.

Do not buy your tickets from ticketmaster or online services. The fee can be as much as $ 20.00 per ticket. PER TICKET. Go to the box office, if not be prepared for the FEE.

Went here for the bridal expo and actually had a blast!!! Great facility with clean restrooms.

Came for the Goodwill Glam event. Everything was overpriced– $ 10 for an aloha shirt with stains, missing buttons and hem out on the left sleeve. Disorganized and not enough racks to bring out the merchandise. When they opened on Friday — they were still setting up. Jewelry was ridiculously over priced. $ 15.00 for a brooch with missing rhinestones. I know it’s all for «a good cause» but u already have to pay to go in and then over pay for merchandise?

Box office personnel not the most reliable. Suggest using ticketmaster with the seat selection option. The extra fees are worth it.

Love that there’s great concerts, jome improvement shows ans other special events here. I can remember the Elvis concert here… oops I’m showing my age. But my favorite concert was watching my favorite singer… Steve Perry and Journey. I had gone to 3 of their 4 concerts only cause I couldn’t get tickets for the last show. Back then, you stood in line for the tickets, nothing like now where everything is electronic. Miss those days because you meet people while waiting for the box office to open.
Parking was a problem back then too and they thought that 3 levels of parking was going to solve that. Hahahaha… boy they were sooo wrong. So peps if you want parking… Go to the event EARLY! Lol

Stopped by to check out the Food & Craft Expo this past weekend (5÷3−5÷5); $ 6 parking & $ 4 entrance fee. I checked the NBC website twice, hoping to see a list of what vendors would be there before going down. Sadly, they did NOT present such a list. If anyone else went to this Expo, you understand why I say I was very disappointed with this. There were hardly any vendors present & many were repeats of the prior «Made in Hawaii» festival.
I was hoping to find some unique, crafty gifts for Mother’s Day but unfortunately, there was nothing my mom would want or doesn’t already have. I figured I HAD to buy something since I’d already spent $ 10 just to get in there so, thankfully, I found some yummy local snacks I can mail to some friends in the mainland.
Pros: vendors are all really friendly & I am all for supporting local businesses. Hardly any customers there, TONS of parking (good for me, bad for vendors).

I frequent this venue because I work as a vendor.
1. Bring a down jacket with you, it’s always colder than an igloo.
2. I wanted to drop off my things within the grace period and entered the parking after explaining my situation with the parking attendant and she told me I had 15 min which I honored. Upon exiting through a different parking attendant I was told I had to see the same initial parking attendant who was on the opposite side of the parking. I went around the block and lost the grace period time due to traffic. Although I had gone to the initial parking attendant I lost the opportunity to redeem the fee. This is truly disconcerting that they have to adhere to the structure like this. Thank you so much.

Omg! I went to a beautiful party on sat (⁴⁄₅). The parking was great, the room was so nice and I was excited to have a great dinner. I always went to party’s there and the Hawaiian food was always really good. I don’t know what happened this time, seemed like I was it eating SALT, really only Salt. My lips swelled up from all the salt in the food. Kailua pig was chopped up so fine it looked like dried up cuttle fish, I never seen that befor. The sweet potatoe was raw and the poi was really hard that we had to cut it out of the bowl. The food was catered by the NBC, so if your planning a party there ask to bring your own food.

Of course I love this place. Each time I go there it’s only for some fun event! Parking is normally 7. and is either on the ground or in the structure. The stalls are large enough but depending on the popularity of the event, you may consider parking outside on the street. I’ve been to concerts where upon exiting, I had to sit in my vehicle for 10min before someone allowed me to reverse out of my stall and it had taken another ½ hour just to drive down. My rule of thumb is that if I choose to park in the structure, I leave the event early (if it is a concert or event of a similar type).
Do not ever go to the Blaisdell Center if you are not in the mood to deal with crowds or are impatient.

Having come to the Blaisdell recently for the first time (it is now ticked off my living on Oahu bucket list), I can honestly say that it is a good event venue. I was fortunate enough to score Dave Chappelle tickets fairly close to the date of the show, so I was just excited to be there.
Parking was very easy and cheap. $ 7 is probably the most reasonable event parking I have ever paid for. I’ve never parked for that cheap while still being three parking rows away from the front door of the venue. I’m not sure why other reviews think that is a lot of money. I once paid $ 20 to park a half mile away from a professional soccer game. It was SOCCER!
Once I got over the close vicinity of the parking lot, I was able to take in the scenery of the event space. The outside area was cool with the water and the fountains. And I liked that the food and drinks were kept outside of the seating area as this helped keep the people from moving around too much while inside. I was worried when I saw my wife and I had upper level seats, but once inside, I realized there really wasn’t a bad seat in the place. It was small enough that even upper level patrons get a personal feeling show or event.
Another great aspect of this venue was the pace in which the people were able to enter the center. There were no long lines or unreasonable holdups while entering. I was in out of my car and into my seat in under 10 minutes. This was a great feature.
Overall, I would be happy to see any other shows or events that I am interested in at a venue like the Blaisdell. I really couldn’t find anything wrong with this place. The only thing I could think of in a negative way is that the inside could maybe use a face lift. It seems a little old, but it is not noticeable enough to make me not want to return.

Although parking is crazy expensive, at least you’re able to park the whole day due to all day and night events! I enjoying attending sport events from University volleyball and basketball to Concerts and Broadway shows!
I love it when productions like Lion King for next year and Wicked that occurred last year are able to entertain us! Even with our concert hall, we’re able to feel just like other major cities in the US when big productions are in town!
I like when the Exhibition Hall host varieties of events from Career Fairs, Home and Garden and Bridal Expos! These have great local companies that have great products to help in all lifestyles!

My true rating is 3.5 but no half stars and I believe in rounding up so you get 4 stars. Grad season you gonna end up here. When you grad you hope its here. Well my second graduation in the arena was pretty dope. I like that you can recognize your family members in the nose bleeds from the floor. The AC works, parking isnt too hard to find and there isnt too long of a bathroom wait for both sexes. It serves its purpose well. Word.
So go watch that concert or celebrate a graduation, but by the looks of the reviews before just be weary of discount sales!
Scalp them tickets my friend!

NBC. I write this specifically for the Mega Big Sale you hosted this past weekend.
I know that I may sound like a sucker for even believing the commercials. But when you hear «Discounted Brand Names» and electronics going on sale for ridiculous mark downs. You get curious and at least want to check it out. I’m telling you this for your own good… DO NOT GIVE IN!!!
I dragged my bf with me on the first day that they opened. and there was a decent line waiting to get in. But upon entering… I was so disappointed that it was disgusting.
I’ve never heard of any of the brands they were carrying. and the brands they WERE carrying were complete knock offs. Cmon. you can’t be serious right?
The electronics.
.gosh.
The laptops looked older than my mac (white macbook they were selling 5 years ago that bundled with the ipod and printer) and the laptops they were selling were running on Intel Pentium. not even core 2 duo. and those were being sold for $ 300-​$ 400. uh. i can pay a bit more and get an i-​5 on sale at best buy.
There were brands I’ve never even heard of. Tablets that look very cheaply made. «Speakers» that sound just horrible. and people were actually buying that… Seriously? Idk. maybe its just me.
They had a section for clothes and accessories that looked used. They had racks for shirts and tables where they just dumped bags and belts. They all looked used (I saw stains on a few of their items).
The event started at 12pm and all of the vendors weren’t even there.
NBC. save yourself and don’t host that even anymore.

$ 7 parking? No thank you! I was lucky and was able to find some neighborhood parking in the area instead. Whew!
But the graduation that I attended there was very nice! The venue was big enough to fit all the graduates and their guests. I enjoyed sitting at the top far from everyone else.
Even when I go for concerts, I like sitting at the top because I just wanna be there to hear the music… not so much to «see» the artist. Well, the big screens show them anyways.

Parking: $ 7 yikes. I remember when it used to $ 3, $ 4, $ 5 geez. Depending on what events are being held it is easy finding parking.
I can’t stand the stinky smell of the water. It just floods the air when you’re there. There are a lot of bathrooms but if there are too many people be prepared to wait in line to use the potty.
Arena and exhitbition hall sometimes its really cold and sometimes its really hot.

I love the Blaisdell! I’ve been here multiple times for conventions and concerts and I think it’s the best that Hawaii has to offer! It really reminds me of some of the large music venues on the mainland.
When you see a concert here there are no bad tickets. You won’t be super far away and you’ll be able to hear who you came to see!
The food/​drinks here are super expensive but what can you expect? Your at an event!
I think the best thing here is that the vendors are outside. Which is awesome when your at an super hot concert and all you want is some fresh air.

Visited the Blaisdell Center for the first time for the Made in Hawaii Festival.
Parking for $ 6.00 right on the premises. Easy in and out too.
We enjoyed the Arena where most of the food venders were located. Samples galore, everything from Rainbow Drive Inn Chili flavored jerky to home made ginger ale. It was great having a little taste of the islands all in one spot.
The Exhibition Hall had the more traditional vendors, but a competition for a Kani Ka Pila Grille (Outrigger Reef) music contract was a pure delight. Listening to great, local talent was such a treat. Excellent place to buy Christmas presents and support the local economy.
My overall impression is that this has been a great facility. It appears to be a little dated but its still comfortable.