Lei Day Aloha Festival

I’m attending once again because it’s freeeee to get in but I’m going for the entertainment as well as the poi mochi stand eeeeeekkkk I’m excited

You can’t beat FREE!
California Hotel and Casino presents an annual Lei Day Polynesian Festival — this year marking their 15^th one. I’ve attended a few and it makes for a nice day out with the family. It’s held at the California Hotel Parking Lot Venue at Stewart and Main Streets.
There are various booths selling almost anything you can find from the islands along with food vendors offering eats from Hawai’i, Samoa, and even the Cook Islands! Entertainment is ongoing, and what a supportive group of people that show up for this! There is definitely a lot of love for those performing and you can easily find shaded seating in the covered tent areas.
It’s not as congested as some of other (not free) aloha festivals in town, which I definitely appreciate. I would even suggest they have a few more vendors next year since it looks like they have the space for it. They could make the vendors booths a bit larger though because it’s crowded and hot in those little booths.
There is event parking ($ 5?) right next door or you can search around for some free downtown parking (good luck finding any at any of the nearby hotels).
There are no ATMs at this location, which is a huge bother. You’ll have to cross into California Hotel to use their old school ATMs.
Overall, I always love anything that brings more culture and family-​friendly activities to Vegas and much love to California Hotel for continuing this tradition.

After chowing down at Du-​Pars, we walked across the street to check out the festivities…
free admission to the public, people were able to enjoy free entertainment and enjoy some ono Hawaiian grindz like Kalua Pig, Poi Mochi, Huli-​Huli Chicken and even Wayne’s Sushi was there!(He hasn’t found a definite location yet)
there were some cool vendors, from polynesian tattoo artists, Hawaiian lei makers, and even a *Gyotaku artist. A great way to enjoy Hawaiian culture
with friends and family. Next time I’ll save room for some Poi Mochi… ALOHA!!!
*Gyotaku-​The art of fish paintings on rice paper. The artist/​fisherman takes the actual fish, paints the fish its natural colors, and presses it onto rice paper resulting in beautiful color and detail, and a pretty pricey piece of art.