I've been going to the Punahou Carnival at Punahou School for years as it was a mere 7 minute…read morewalking distance from where I once lived. But for this year, it was a different experience, not just travel wise but overall. As expected, parking can be difficult to find for this weekend event. You can either pray to the street parking gods to have a spot available nearby the campus or pay at nearby locations like Central Union Church or neighboring school and churches ranging from $10.00 to up to $30.00. Food items and games (except for the E.K. Fernandez games) can be purchased through scrip. There are many scrip booths available on campus for you to purchase scrip from. Most of the crowd tends to go to the scrip booth at the entrance of the school, but I found it more convenient to go to the other areas like by the white elephant tent or kiddie land as the lines are much much shorter. One key thing to remember is that the booths only accept credit/debit, Apple Pay or Google Pay to purchase scrip. No cash will be accepted. One scrip is 50 cents, a whole sheet of scrip is $10. It does tend to get busy during this event and it is highly expected that you will be waiting in line for the food. Unfortunately this year, the food was just...meh. The regular gyro that costs about 15 scrip had an equal amount of protein and onion (if you know me well enough, I'm not a fan of raw yellow onions). The noodles (that I always look forward to) that costs about 10 scrip with char siu, was bland and didn't have that many char siu pieces. The teri burger (9 scrip, 10 with cheese) was nostalgic but also meh. But the most upsetting food we had this time around was their famous (turned infamous for us) Portuguese bean soup (32 oz. is 18 scrip, limit 2 per person). When we got home and were ready to partake in that so-called hearty, comforting bowl of soup, we were faced disappointment with more broth than the actual ingredients. It was so watery that I was only able to identify only 4.5 pieces of elbow macaroni in that 32 oz! My friend's soup however had a lot of ingredients (she went earlier in the day instead). To make things worse, they moved the soup station further away from everything else, meaning extra walking (without any markings or signages) to just be let down. Although this year's experience wasn't the greatest, it's still the Punahou Carnival, with its usual crowds, usual announcements over the PA, and its nostalgic charm. Hopefully, they'll improve the food quality (the best ones we had from this experience were the malasadas and corn on the cob) and include some signages or arrows to point us of where to go for the hot items instead of letting us go on a hiking adventure up, down, left, and right through the campus.

The iconic Punahou Carnival is like any other popular place so expect crowds, looking for parking,…read morelines, but it's a priceless experience with the right mindset. It's always held the FIRST WEEKEND in February. First, the parking. Only volunteers receive on-campus parking. The public can find free parking on adjacent streets like Dole, Clark, Whitney, Wilder or opt for paying flat rate at Maryknoll School which is a short walk across the street, St. Clements Church about a block west, Shriners Hospital is 2 blocks makai, Central Union Church 2 blocks makai, and St Peter's is 3 blocks makai. Traffic can be crazy around these areas with a lot of pedestrians so extra caution. If I didn't live within walking distance I'd probably Uber over to save time. I give the carnival 4 stars - until the scrips can be purchased online or a QR code. Waiting in line to purchase scrips can be difficult when you're bringing young children. That being said, we purchase more scrip for both days so we don't have to wait in line again. It's fifty cents per scrip or $10 for entire sheet. Credit cards only- no cash accepted. When you enter through main gate there's a scrip booth to the right but also more on the diamond head side which usually isn't as busy. This year there was also one near Bishop Hall (mauka) where more of the keiki games were. I highly recommend the carnival website which gives great info to plan your day. A map shows food, games, bathrooms, scrip booths, art gallery, logo shop, white elephant, plants, fruits/vegs was awesome for us to plan our attack. A list of Punahou games (EK Fernandez is separate) and food booths with amount of scrip needed helped us figure out how much scrip to purchase for both days. It also says which places take scrip or credit cards. The food is basic carnival - which to me always tastes good because of the great memories growing up. Teri burgers, saimin, wok-prepared char siu noodles, malasadas, Portuguese bean soup, Hawaiian plate with kalua pig, rice, poi, lomi salmon, sweet potato, pineapple, hot dogs, spam musubi, corn on cob, taco salad, nachos, mini Haagen Daz ice cream cups, gyros, smoothies, soda, bottled water are all reasonably priced. This is a FUNDRAISER to give financial aid to more students- which are about 30% of the classes. Bathrooms are scattered throughout the carnival and pretty clean. Also have accessible portapotties placed far enough away from activities with portable sinks and soap. Police officers posted at each scrip booth and also entrances/exits, as well as security. The first day on Friday is busy because Punahou and Maryknoll allow students early access. Evenings after-work/school crowd gets busy so if you have small kids it could be a little overwhelming plus walking to your car in dark perhaps bring flashlight as sidewalks are narrow with cracked asphalt, and alerts cars who may be distracted or in a rush to get outta there. Saturday is the busiest since most people have the day off. Not sure why but this year didn't seem as busy- lots of room to walk around and the weather was perfect. It ended earlier at 10:00 PM instead of 11:00. EK Fernandez has their own area for games and rides. You can either purchase at their booth or download QR code and pay for games and rides with your phone. The prizes are nice- really huge stuffed animals and inflatables. Punahou games do not give out prizes at their booths. If you win or as a consolation prize they give out coupons which can be redeemed at the Prize Tent located up top by Bishop Hall (Diamond Head / mauka of White Elephant tent). This was nice because we didn't have to carry it around with us and could redeem upon leaving. The Haku Booth had a sign saying pre-ordered only so check Carnival website for details. They are beautifully made by the students. The Portuguese bean soup and Hawaiian plates are located mauka in the cafeteria. Be prepared to wait in line but it goes quickly as there's a limit of 2. You may sit in the cafeteria to eat or there are groups of tables just outside. They sell small cooler bags if you plan on taking home or we brought our own. There is also a schedule of live music to enjoy. There was NO CHICKEN PLATE this year so we missed that rotisserie chicken cooked at the carnival on campus. The art gallery had moved to Bishop Learning Center because the library was being renovated so we enjoyed checking out the beautiful artwork and paintings for sale which were mostly local artists. In our experience it's always been a very safe and clean carnival- we took our 2 year old granddaughter this year and she loved all the games and a couple of rides like the "hot air balloon" and carousel. Lots of sunscreen, water, and people-watching made it all the more enjoyable.