Lala disrupts shipping and attendance for Made in Hawaii festival vendors

News admin August 23, 2026 0 Comments

Lala disrupts shipping and attendance for Made in Hawaii festival vendors

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – For many local businesses, the Made in Hawaii Festival is more than just a weekend event. It can make a significant difference in their yearly income.

But Tropical Storm Lala created challenges for some vendors trying to get their products to Oʻahu.

“It was kind of stressful just trying to get here and making sure we had what we needed,” said Lyndsay Ragonton, owner of Hi Darling Shop. “We live in Kahului and it’s been quite a challenge this entire, like, past couple of months with all the storms kind of coming and Hurricane Lala and everything like that.”

For Nikki Savella, visionary creator of The Boom Bakery and Coffee Shop, the storm created shipping problems.

“The Young Brothers shipped out on Thursday, right? And Lala was coming. And I said, ‘Lala, don’t even try,’” Savella said. “So luckily, the Young Brothers docked on Saturday, but the dock was closed, so our company just couldn’t pick it up at that time.”

There were 63 vendors from Hawaiʻi Island participating in the festival, but two were unable to attend because of the storm’s impacts. Hoʻōla Honey was one of them.

The Kohala-based honey business dealt with downed trees and power lines and was without electricity for six days.

“Our roads were blocked with tons of downed trees and downed power lines,” said co-owner Kailin Kim. “We personally didn’t have power for six days.”

Kim said the storm also disrupted shipping from the Big Island and left the business balancing festival preparations with cleanup at home.

“Besides just the logistical things of the harbor shutting down and the barge not being able to go and our honey and products not making it to Made in Hawaii, we’re also just dealing with trying to clean up here at home in our community,” Kim said.

For businesses that were able to make it, the festival remains a major opportunity.

“Made in Hawaii has always been a huge market for us and it’s like a very good chunk of our income actually for the entire year of our business,” Kim said. “It takes months for us to prep for that.”

Ragonton called the event “make or break” for her business and said preparing for it takes long hours.

“This is make or break for us. Are you kidding me? Like, this is the biggest show in the state,” Ragonton said.

Savella said the festival is especially important for her Hilo-based bakery, which recently opened its first storefront.

“It is the biggest event of the year for us coming from Hilo,” Savella said. “So this way we’re able to serve a multitude of people, and then it’s just really eyeballs on the business.”

The storm also affected one of the festival’s charity partners.

Olena Heu, a Made in Hawaii Festival spokesperson, said the Food Basket was unable to attend because its staff was assisting people in Kapua impacted by the storm.

The festival is collecting donations through ticket purchases for the Hawaii Foodbank and the Food Basket. A check presentation is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.