Chinatown Festival 2026 Oʻahu, also promoted as the Chinatown Festival & Parade, happens Saturday, February 14, 2026 in Honolulu’s Historic Chinatown, with a full-day schedule from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM and a parade starting at 4:30 PM. It’s one of the most colorful island street festivals of the year, blending Lunar New Year traditions with Honolulu energy, local food, live stages, and a family-friendly atmosphere in the heart of downtown Oʻahu.
Chinatown Festival 2026 Oʻahu: what it is
Honolulu’s Chinatown Festival is an annual Lunar New Year celebration hosted by Chinatown 808, a volunteer group known for producing signature events that highlight Oʻahu’s Chinese culture and heritage and the historic Chinatown district. The festival is designed as a community-wide street party with multiple entertainment stages, vendors, and kid-friendly activities, alongside a major parade component that runs through Chinatown. For visitors, it’s an easy way to experience Oʻahu island culture beyond the beach, especially if you want a daytime-to-evening event that feels local, lively, and welcoming.
This event has also been described as formerly being called the Night in Chinatown Festival & Parade, showing how the festival has evolved while keeping its Lunar New Year spirit and community focus. The 2026 edition is especially notable because Chinatown 808’s announcement frames it as celebrating 50 years, adding a milestone feel to the island calendar.
Confirmed 2026 date, times, and festival area
The Chinatown 808 event page lists the Chinatown Festival & Parade on February 14, 2026 with festival hours 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM. The same page confirms the main festival location as Beretania Street between Maunakea and ʻAʻala Street, plus ʻAʻala Park. Honolulu Magazine’s guide to the event aligns with this footprint, describing the festival along Beretania Street between Maunakea Street and ʻAʻala Streets and in ʻAʻala Park.
For planning, this is a prime central-Honolulu location: close to downtown, reachable by rideshare or bus, and walkable from nearby neighborhoods if you stay in the urban core. Since it’s a long-running street event, expect road closures and heavy foot traffic, and plan to arrive earlier than you think if you want the best viewing spots for performances or the parade.
Parade details and must-see moments
Chinatown 808 lists the parade starting at 4:30 PM and describes it as running on Hotel Street from the Hawaiʻi State Capitol through Chinatown. Honolulu Magazine also lists 4:30 PM as the parade time in its schedule breakdown, reinforcing that this late-afternoon moment is a centerpiece of the day. If you want the iconic energy of Chinatown Festival, the parade window is the time to be in place, camera ready, with enough room to enjoy the movement and sound.
Beyond the parade, Honolulu Magazine outlines a full-day rhythm with highlights like a 9:00 AM opening lion dance, entertainment beginning around 11:00 AM, and closing lion dances in the evening. Even if schedules shift slightly year to year, these anchor moments reflect what the festival is known for: lion dances, performances, and a steady build of excitement into the evening.
What to expect: food, vendors, stages, and family fun
Chinatown 808 describes a festival packed with food vendors, craft vendors, free keiki bouncy houses, and multiple entertainment stages. Honolulu Magazine’s guide also emphasizes the family-friendly structure, including a keiki zone at ʻAʻala Park during daytime hours. For travelers, this is one of the best Oʻahu island events for sampling bites and wandering, because you can eat your way across the neighborhood, then pause for performances whenever you hear drums or live music drawing a crowd.
Lunar New Year flavor on Oʻahu
The festival is framed as a Lunar New Year welcome celebration, which means you can expect classic cultural elements associated with luck, prosperity, and new-year renewal. Lion dances are a major draw, and they create the kind of sensory memory people associate with island street festivals: drumbeats, cheering, and crowds moving together down the block.
Shopping local in Chinatown
Chinatown Festival is also a strong place to shop. Craft vendors and small makers often use the festival as a showcase moment, so it’s a good opportunity to support local Oʻahu businesses while picking up gifts and island-made goods.
Honolulu Chinatown culture and local landmarks to explore
Honolulu’s Chinatown is one of the most historic neighborhoods on Oʻahu, known for its markets, food scene, cultural organizations, and nightlife. If you’re visiting for the festival, it’s worth arriving early to explore the area’s daytime personality: local shops, fresh produce stands, and the layered history visible in building facades and narrow side streets. The festival footprint includes ʻAʻala Park, which sits near key downtown corridors and becomes a hub for family activities during the event.
Chinatown also connects naturally to other downtown areas, so visitors can extend the day with walks to waterfront viewpoints or nearby districts once the parade ends. This is a great strategy for travelers who want to experience Honolulu as a real city on an island, not just a resort zone.
Practical travel tips for visitors
Admission is free, and most of the cost of attending comes down to what you buy from food and craft vendors, plus transportation and parking. Honolulu Magazine notes that vendors accept both cash and credit cards, but bringing some cash can speed up purchases when lines are long. If you drive, Honolulu Magazine points to parking in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza lot (100 N. Beretania St., entrance on Maunakea St.) with posted hourly rates, along with other municipal lots and street parking nearby.
For a smooth festival day:
- Arrive earlier in the morning if you want less crowded browsing and easier parking.
- Pick a parade viewing plan by mid-afternoon so you’re not pushing through dense crowds at the last minute.
- Wear comfortable shoes because you’ll be walking and standing for hours across street closures and park areas.
Pricing, admission, and what to budget
Honolulu Magazine explicitly states that admission is free. Chinatown 808’s event page focuses on festival hours, location, and parade details and does not list a ticket price, which aligns with a free-entry street festival model. Budget for what makes the festival fun: food, drinks, small purchases from craft vendors, and transportation.
If you’re building an island itinerary around Lunar New Year, Chinatown Festival can be the anchor event, with the rest of your Oʻahu days spent exploring beaches, hiking, and local neighborhoods while keeping evenings open for downtown dining.
Make Chinatown Festival 2026 the heartbeat of your Honolulu trip
Chinatown Festival 2026 Oʻahu is the kind of island event that delivers a full day of atmosphere: morning lion dances, daytime food adventures, live stages, keiki fun, and a late-afternoon parade that brings the whole neighborhood together. With the date confirmed as February 14, 2026 and the festival footprint centered on Beretania Street between Maunakea and ʻAʻala Street plus ʻAʻala Park, planning is straightforward for travelers staying anywhere in Honolulu. Save the date, bring your appetite, and spend the day in Historic Chinatown welcoming the Lunar New Year the Oʻahu way: on the street, with music in the air and the island community all around you.
Verified Information at glance
Event Name: Chinatown Festival & Parade (Chinatown Festival)
Event Category: Cultural street festival and parade (Lunar New Year celebration)
Organizer/Host: Chinatown 808 (host identified in Honolulu Magazine coverage)
Confirmed Date (2026): Saturday, February 14, 2026
Confirmed Festival Hours: 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Confirmed Festival Location: Beretania Street between Maunakea and ʻAʻala Street, plus ʻAʻala Park
Confirmed Parade Time: Starts at 4:30 PM
Confirmed Parade Route Description: Hotel Street from Hawaiʻi State Capitol through Chinatown
Admission / Pricing: Admission is free (as stated by Honolulu Magazine)
