4th Annual New Year’s Eve Party of the Year

First, I need to thank the Unilocal!Team for issuing me two free tickets! I don’t think I would have made it to this event if it wasn’t for them. I also want to thank my friends for being there and my wonderful BF for making the night memorable with the photos he took. Thank you!
Now to the review… I liked the fact that it was a family friendly event! There was an abundance of food trucks to choose from and carnival games and rides to entertain before the big bang of the evening. It gets really busy, so come early to look for parking or pay the toll of $ 10.00. We ended up paying because it would be such hassle to walk back after an evening of having fun *wink Wink* Drinking.
Very much enjoyed the food trucks. My highlight was the lilikoi ice cream sandwich and deep fried Oreos! Both a delish treat during the muggy part of the night. After stuffing our faces with the bit overpriced meals, we headed to the second fun part of the event… the concerts and the bars!
After entering to the concert stage, the price of water and soda goes up! Could not bring any food or drinks beyond the check-​in point. Bummer. The lines for the bar and bathrooms were horrendous! I would do it again, but only to the food trucks and camp out for the evening.

Since there were very few places that had fireworks to celebrate the new year I chose to come here with a few buddies. There was quite a line to get in after checking out the eat the street trucks and carnival rides. Once inside, the entertainment was good. The Green was good. Heard The Cataracts were average at best.
Parking was a pain. But I ended up parking near ward and walked in. Parking in a closeby lot would have cost an arm and a leg. Oh and once the midnight fireworks came and went and a new year began, traffic was a nightmare. Overall, a great event regardless. I didn’t get my midnight kiss but I was with people I care about. Oh well, there’s always next year. Too bad they won’t have events here anymore since the EDM people screwed up that opportunity.

If I could have gotten a refund, or talked to a manager, I would have. The Eat the Streets was great, and the Ferris wheel, but you don’t need to pay for that, it’s all free! Once you go to the paid part, there was just blazing steaks, two concert stages that had local acts and one just a DJ. The bathrooms lines were huge, people were going in the bushes. It sucked the «beer garden» you couldn’t leave the area with your drink.
The security for the most part was nice, but one guy made 3 older people vacate seats in the bar area, of no reason! I asked why, and all he said was because… he should have been concerned with the people on the rocks peeing, but instead his attention was on 3 60-​ish year old people, so rude.
For anyone reading, pay the $ 10 for parking, get food at Eat the Streets, then tailgate and have drinks in the parking lot. It had a great view of the Kakaako fireworks and the Waikiki ones. Skip the «party of the year.»

Happy New Year 2014!
Wow, does the time go quickly! After spending the last day of 2013 up in Haleiwa, I came back into Kaka’ako for the night’s festivities. It’s been too long for me to actually celebrate it outside home before, so it was a real treat to see fireworks — outside of 4^th of July and the Honolulu Marathon each year. And so, I came here not knowing what to expect, but a large crowd and plenty of chaos that’s likely to ensue. I arrived about 5:30pm, but quickly learned that it was pretty early to really do anything since the Eat the Street peeps were still busy setting up. I thought that it was cool to see all these Eat the Street vendors here, but I didn’t have any cash on me. Luckily though, some vendors like the Olay Thai Express accepted credit cards, although I wanted to eat up at the Soul Patrol one, since I would love to eat up some Southern Food before traveling to the Deep South in January 2014. I ended up having the Olay Thai express, which came out to a cool $ 8 for a plate, which was pretty decent. I also got a pretty decent sized ice cream cookie sandwich from Uncle’s North Shore Gourmet Ice Cream, which turned out to be pretty good. Wonder if they have a Unilocal page?
The Eat The Street parking area filled up as the sun went down. There were plenty of people walking and eating around when it got dark. There was a Ferris wheel and some carnival games to keep the kids happy. Of course, you need to pay money for them, but it was cool, just to watch the kids play the ball in the hole, and the race car can go. There was also the spray the clown and a mechanical bull. I would bet that there was hell to get parking here, especially being billed and hyped as being the «Biggest New Year’s Party of the year», so I just took the bus over and that eliminated a lot of hassle of driving, but that’s just me. If you choose to do this next year, GO EARLY! It saves a lot of time and migraines, if you do. There was also the National Guard presence there, so that was cool. There was also a lot of police here, since it was understandable that there was plenty of alcohol to be served here and people can get out of hand when alcohol is anywhere nowadays.
After waiting and eating dinner, they started the process of carding ID everyone who has a ticket. If you are buying, you waited in a separate line too. After getting through all that, I walked up the hill to see pretty much an empty hill with people scattered amongst the grassy knoll. There were many big and beefy security people, who make sure everyone has a good time and not be a nuisance to themselves or others. The fireworks show went off without a hitch at 9pm, 10pm, 11pm and finally at midnight to signalize the start of a brand new year with promise. There was also a stage, that had people sing and play music to kill time before midnight. I felt like this was like a fundraising telethon, where you kill time with music and you’re still spending money on food and booze. I did wish the booze came free with the ticket purchase, but alias, everyone has to make money.
I went home just after midnight, after they fired off the last fireworks. I got bored soon after, and didn’t want to be stuck with the drunks and the rowdy bunch. This event is recommended, if you like the party and carnival atmosphere. While the food is typical and the entertainment can be better, Located at the Kaka’ako Water Front Park, this place is the one to watch for, since Aloha Tower Market Place recently decided not to do the fireworks thing this year. While I did not buy any alcohol that night to celebrate the moment of the new year arrival, I did witness a fight outside the Tesoro on South King Street, while waiting for the bus. Interesting way to ring in the new year. Took the cops 20 minutes to show up after the initial blow.
Support local!
C

Happy New Year!
Yes my ears are still slightly ringing today. I got there before 7 pm, Eat the street was up and running, checked out a few vendors and just had a pork mini plate that was (now that I see what I got) over priced {which I knew before going} but it was supposedly fresh from Big Island and understandable in the venue. DJ band was warming up by setting up equipment on 1 stage on the ocean, understandable 7:30ish and there is some dead air because there are 5 djs setting up– sets start at 8pm supposedly. When they are in the middle of their 2 hour long sets and they have dead air there is really no excuses. (how hard is it?) Very few vocals, 1 girl from Big Island sang just parts of 2 songs– she was pretty good but too hard to catch her name, guys sang a few more than that but nothing over the top– the other bands had a huge huge stage mountain side and ohhh were they bad, crowd loved them but they were less than special. Jus normal garage bands.
Again– djs should be ready and not have dead air. Just how much were they paid to be flown in for this event — whatever it was it was too much.
You can say I told you so– but hey — got to see how the bar is set for Hawaii if that is the premier event that people shell out $ 37.50 for the night.
Beer wan mixed drinks were in a better location — no kids– but at $ 9 a drink. Red Bull $ 5, soda $ 3, Water $ 4. Ohhh they were making money hand over fist that night.
Security was pretty good I would say– Most people were there just to have a good time.
VIP tickets were be way better as they had a great stage and did not seem to be crowded at all in their private area. — although many of those said VIPs came down to the dance floor stage by the waterfront as that really seemed like that was where it was at the whole night.
The crowd for Green was rather large but they were there mostly to see a show like families. Less (to no) moving around — just picnic to eat and watch the Green– I know the Green is popular but not until now have I seen them live (no my cup of tea per say but I see that many people like them).
I would love to go again — in a year — wishing for VIP tickets and many more friends to go with– It is an event to enjoy with many friends and it is best to meet up there– great sections to meet friends — less talk and more party though. Not good for kids though in my opinion — I have no idea why parents would want their kids in such a loud environment at 2 am ???

Great New Year’s Eve event for all!
With the live music, the food, carnival rides, mechanical bull, and fireworks you can’t go wrong. I got the Groupon for this event so I only paid $ 20 a head for it.
We got here around 930ish. We started with all the food trucks. It seemed as if all the vendors from Eat the Street were there so I had my usual favorites. So many people showed up for this thing. It was really crowded, but fun.
The worst part of the night I would have to say is the LONG line /​wait to get into the park. It was ridiculous. Needed a better system or better people working the gate.
Once in we ran around to the different stages to see what was playing. Cataracs were pretty good and came on after the fireworks show. Again lots of people so people watching was pretty fun too. Right before the fireworks show they had some flame twirlers that were pretty good. They twirled all the way through the fireworks. I did not make it to the bull, but I wish I had.
Fireworks were amazing! I really like how they’re done in the park instead of in the ocean. It puts them right above you and its makes it so much more magical. Love coming to this event. In my opinion, so much better than the clubs which are overpriced just to be overcrowded, just to spend more money on overpriced drinks that you’re lucky to get before losing your buzz from the last. and lets face it. Hawaii’s nightlife really isn’t worth all that hassle. Looking forward to next year’s event!

This year, Kakaako was one of the few places offering public fireworks. Ala Moana and Aloha Tower cancelled this year and Ko Olina was not open to the public. For $ 30, the fireworks weren’t exactly free, but for a few minutes of nostalgia and happy childhood memories, it’s worth the entrance fee. Fireworks is Hawaii’s way of ushering in the New Year.
We arrived early, parked near Ward and walked over to Kakaako. Entry to the party was not allowed until 7pm. However, just outside, there were tons of food trucks lined up and carnival rides hosted by E.K. Fernandez. Inside there are 2 stages, one for DJs and the other for live bands. There were bar stands located all around. Fireworks were shot off every hour starting from 9pm.
By 9:30, the hordes of people started coming in. In fact, the line whipped all the way around the food trucks and was well over an hour’s wait by then. They give you wristbands that allow you to walk in and out of the venue and avoid the lines when you want to go back in. But by midnight it was PACKED.
Overall, a nice, fun event with a spectacular fireworks show. The venue isn’t exactly child-​friendly, but they do divide up sections for 21+.
Tip for people who are thinking of attending next year? Go early!

Last day of year 2013 into starting 2014 with laugh, dance, firework show, bull ride, surf ride, hamster ball ride and screaming friends.
When we arrived at Kakaako park around 6:30 it was sunset and the evening has begun. you can notice the enterance just by looking at bright LED from Ferris Wheel. kakaako park was full with food trucks and other vendors. it was good for the kids because they were carnival rides.
I seen a new food on this eat the street. swirl stick of potato. it looked very good. only other time i saw this food was back in korea and now they have finally brought it to here. only thing is they premade it and it wasn’t fresh. deep fried potato part was crunch as it should be. the topping sauce you can pick was so little that i could barely taste garlic, so i give ³⁄₅ star on the food.
The best thing from the food truck on this experience was the ice cream sandwich. It was call Uncle’s North Shore Gourmet ice cream Sandwiches and THEY WERE SUPER SUPER AWESOME. you have to try fresh lilikoi ice cream on old fashioned sugar cookie. ⁵⁄₅.
After we had our dinner we went upto the stage. they were good music, expensive alcohols, not enough line for bar, and not enough bathroom. ³⁄₅
Bull ride and Surf ride and hamster ball ride was fun. it was exciting and funny to see people holding on for their life. i even saw one guy fly over the safety zone. (glad he is ok) they were $ 5 per ride.
Over all i’m a fan of kakaako party of the years and it was great to see all the fire work every hour. Next year i would love to do it again.
PS. i couldn’t find the Unilocal booth… did i miss it?