The 13th Annual Hawaiian Airlines Made in Maui County Festival runs Nov. 6 and 7 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on Cameron Way. It's one festival, but the two days are priced very differently. A Friday ticket costs $36. A Saturday ticket costs $9, and keiki 12 and under get in free. The gap makes sense once you see who each day is built for. The Maui Chamber of Commerce runs Friday as a preview for wholesale buyers. Saturday is the big public day.
That shapes everything else about your trip: how you park, what you eat, how long you'll wait at the busiest booths, and what you'll find on the tables when you get there.
Who the festival was built for
The Maui Chamber of Commerce presents the festival, with support from the County of Maui Office of Economic Development. Hawaiian Airlines is the title sponsor. In its 2026 announcement, the festival calls itself the county's largest products show and describes its job as connecting local businesses with "local, national, and international buyers who help them grow."
The attendance numbers show both sides. Over its first twelve years, the festival welcomed 4,308 wholesale buyers and 109,044 retail shoppers, according to Maui Now's Oct. 13 report. That works out to about 25 shoppers for every buyer. Shoppers fill the room. A smaller group of buyers decides which of these products end up on shelves around the island and beyond.
Every Saturday ticket supports that setup, too. Retail sales are real money for the makers. In 2024, the 133 vendors brought in more than $730,420 in retail sales, Maui Now reported ahead of last year's festival. That's roughly $5,500 per vendor over the two days.
Friday is the buyers' preview, and you can get in
The Friday session runs 1:30 to 6 p.m. The festival's own name for it is "Exclusive Shopping Preview & Buyers." Qualified wholesale buyers and distributors get in free. The festival vets them, and registration is due by Friday, Oct. 30. The wholesale page says this access is meant for businesses that are actively setting up wholesale accounts and buy in larger quantities on a regular basis. It isn't for people who buy in bulk a few times a year for VIPs, donors or one-time events.
Anyone else can get in with the limited $36 ticket. The festival pitches it as a calmer shopping day with smaller crowds, first pick of one-of-a-kind products and a free tote bag. You'll be shopping the same aisles as the buyers. The opening ceremony is at 5 p.m. Food is limited to two food trucks, and they serve until 5:30 p.m. Friday is also the only day you can park on site, at the MACC and UH Maui College lots.
That makes Friday the right day for a specific kind of shopper. Maybe you have a list. Or you want a single handmade piece before someone else gets it, or you'd like a few minutes to talk with a furniture maker without a line behind you. Plan to eat beforehand.
Saturday is the festival everyone pictures
Saturday runs 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and has everything Friday doesn't. There are 12 food trucks, live music, fashion shows, vendor demonstrations and prize drawings. The first 2,000 people through the gates get a free tote bag.
Here's how the two days line up:
| Friday, Nov. 6 | Saturday, Nov. 7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 1:30 to 6 p.m. | 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Ticket | $36, all fees included, limited | $9, all fees included; keiki 12 and under free |
| Food | Two food trucks until 5:30 p.m. | 12 food trucks |
| On the program | Opening ceremony at 5 p.m. | Live music, fashion shows, demos, prize drawings |
| Tote bag | Free with entry | First 2,000 attendees |
| Parking | MACC and UH Maui College lots | Offsite lots in Kahului and Wailuku with free shuttles |
Saturday's food truck lineup includes Area 50 One, DeRay's Poi Mochi, Fiyah Foods, LIKE POKE?, Maui Frozen and Pastele House Maui. With a dozen trucks spread over an eight-and-a-half-hour day, you can shop the morning and still eat on site.
Parking runs through town on Saturday
Saturday's parking setup is where living in Kahului pays off. The festival says Saturday parking will be at offsite lots in Kahului and Wailuku, with free shuttles to the MACC and back. As of this writing, it lists the full parking and shuttle details as "coming soon."
Last year's setup gives you an idea of what to expect, but it isn't this year's plan. For the 2025 festival, held Nov. 7–8, shuttles ran from 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. from three lots:
- Queen Kaʻahumanu Center, with pickup at the former Maui Bus stop across from the old Longs Drugs.
- War Memorial Stadium, where you could only turn right into and out of the lot.
- War Memorial Gym, with the same right-turn-only rule.
In 2025, MACC parking was reserved for handicap parking only. Blazy Construction has been finishing a three-year renovation of the War Memorial Gym. The County scheduled a blessing for the renovated gym on Sept. 25 and then canceled it because of expected severe weather, with a future community celebration to be announced. If you went to the Maui County Fair this fall, you saw the gym while it was still under construction. Before you leave home Saturday, check the festival website for the 2026 lots.
The seal is what makes it "Made in Maui"
What's on the tables comes from the same Chamber program that started all this. The Made in Maui Trade Council has been a Chamber committee since 1980. Its long-standing rule is that a member company must "produce a marketable item with at least 51% value added on Maui." In 2019, the Chamber opened the council to active festival vendors because they had already been verified as meeting the requirements. Each year a vendor takes part, it gets one year of complimentary membership and the right to use the Made in Maui County seal for its home island. The Chamber also worked with the Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi chambers on seals for makers there.
So a booth at the festival also tells you something about where the product was made. This year's vendors were chosen through a competitive review, and the field runs from artisans and designers to specialty food producers and manufacturers. The published 2026 list includes:
- 808 Clothing and 808 Laser Creations
- A Maui Day Original Handbags
- Akalei Designs
- Aloha Aina Adaptogenics
- Aloha Ke Akua Clothing Co.
- Aloha Tropicandles and AlohaBrite
- Alohi Images Maui
- ʻAno Farms
- Cochrane's Chocolate/WowWee Maui Candy Bars
Pamela Tumpap, president of the Maui Chamber of Commerce, put the 13th year this way in Maui Now's coverage:
"As we mark our 13th year, we're proud to see this event grow into one of the most meaningful platforms for connecting Maui County's businesses with new customers and opportunities."
This year there are more than 140 vendors and food trucks from Maui, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.
The rest of the MACC calendar fills in around it
The festival lands in a full few weeks on the MACC calendar, all at One Cameron Way. If you liked the half-mile Saturday loop in our Kahului summer guide, November's version is built around this festival.
- Friday, Oct. 23: The Green at the Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheater, 7 p.m., gates at 6.
- Thursday, Oct. 29: a free screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show hosted by Eric Gilliom, 6:30 p.m., gates at 5.
- Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6–7: the Made in Maui County Festival at the Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheater.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: America at the Castle Theater, 7:30 p.m.
America plays the evening of the festival's big day. If you shop until 4:30 and grab dinner in town, you'll be back at Cameron Way in time for the show. The MACC box office window is open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m., and on show days. Tickets for both festival days are on sale now.
Furniture, art and fashion from Maui County makers look best in a home that feels like yours. If you're thinking about a Maui place to fill with the island's best-made things, or wondering what your current home is worth today, Matt Talbot is glad to talk story and help. Start with an instant home valuation or see more of the Kahului neighborhood.
