Getting a taste of the Oahu SPAM fest
Mark your calendar. You don’t want to miss this. Oahu is the place to be for the 12th annual Waikiki SPAM JAM® Festival on May 3.
You can laugh if you wish, but truly, Kalakaua Avenue will be closed to traffic from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. for a street festival celebrating luncheon meat.
SPAM® is popular in Hawaii with an estimated seven million cans of it eaten there every year.
Each year more than 24,000 people — both locals and tourists — turn out for the festival.
Food booths serve a selection of dishes with SPAM® luncheon meat as the featured ingredient.
But there’s more to the event than snacking on SPAM®. There promises to be some of Hawaii’s best island musicians and groups performing from two entertainment stages plus Hawaiian arts and crafts along with SPAM® merchandise.
For those interested in trivia: The SPAM® Classic was invented in 1937 by Jay Hormel and it was popular even before it was sent off to feed the troops at war in 1941.
There are now many varieties of the luncheon meat that supplement the Classic SPAM® from cheese, garlic, bacon or hickory smoke to hot and spicy, and golden honey grail.
Since it was invented almost seven billion cans of SPAM® products have been sold.
One of the sponsors of the Waikiki SPAM JAM® Festival is Outrigger and OHANA Hotels in Waikiki (outrigger.com) and they are offering guests checking in for the weekend a free one category upgrade (based on availability) with the donation of a can of SPAM® for the Hawaii Foodbank.
Have a look at youtube.com/ watch?v= KenNybPL860 for a taste of what the festival is about.
You’ll want to go.
Death Valley beckons
Furnace Creek Resort ( furnacecreekresort.com) in California’s Death Valley National Park has been welcoming guests since the 1930s.
And it’s becoming even more welcoming to those over 60.
A one-night stay is good for a 10 per cent discount off the room rate (promotion code SENIOR10), a two-night stay earns you 20 per cent off (promotion code SENIOR20) and for three or more nights it’s 30 per cent off (promotion code SENIOR30).
The offer is valid on stays at either property any day of the week but blackout dates do apply.
The resort is located about two hours from Las Vegas.