Waikiki sunsets, movies await you
By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer
If eggs benedict and orange juice on the beach weren't enough to attract people to struggling Waikiki, the city is adding a little spice to the menu the night before.
The city announced yesterday that, beginning this weekend, it is offering "Sunset on the Beach" at Queen's Surf Beach every Saturday and Sunday, from 4 to 9:30 p.m., until the end of the year.
Cafe-style tables and chairs will be set up on the sand, participants can buy food provided by restaurants, free musical entertainment will be featured, and movies will roll on a 30-foot screen.
The event — which expands "Brunch on the Beach," a new chapter in Waikiki's renaissance that began earlier this year and has drawn close to 10,000 people to Kalakaua Avenue one Sunday each month — comes as Hawai'i's economy founders in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Waikiki retailers, restaurants and hotels have been particularly hit hard by a decline in tourists.
Mayor Jeremy Harris said he hopes the combination of activities will encourage more Hawai'i residents "to get a great kama'aina package on a local hotel and spend the weekend in Waikiki."
Rick Egged, president of the Waikiki Improvement Association, said the series could reignite the attraction of Waikiki as a place where people go for romance, activities and excitement.
Egged admitted that the weekly schedule for "Sunset on the Beach" is ambitious but said it designed as a "long-term re-engagement of Waikiki and the community," stimulated by the increasing financial success of "Brunch on Beach."
In July, total proceeds for the brunch event were $19,500; by October, proceeds had risen to $53,054.
The first "Sunset on the Beach" is tied to the closing of the Hawaii International Film Festival, but is likely the movies will stick to family features.
"It's something for everybody," said Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival. Because of the beach setting, he said, it seemed appropriate to show movies suitable to all audiences rather than cutting-edge festival films.
Later this week, the state and the Hawaii International Film Festival will present Walt Disney Pictures with the "Filmed in Hawai'i" Award. Because of that, Harris said, the first films featured at "Sunset on the Beach" will be Disney releases that were partially filmed in Hawai'i. "George of the Jungle" will be shown on Saturday; "Dinosaur" on Sunday.
A segment from "Hot Hawaiian Nights" and an episode from The Travel Channel's "Girl Meets Hawaii" series will also be presented each night.
While no packages specifically geared toward the sunset dinners and morning brunches will be offered through hotels, Paul Tomonari, general manager of the Park Shore Hotel, encouraged residents to call individual hotels to check on the possibility of deals.
This weekend, the list of restaurants featured in "Sunset on the Beach" will include Indigo, I Love Country Cafe, Auntie Pasto's, Skyline Cafe and Naniwa-ya.
The final touches on the sunset dining at water's edge will be a torch-lighting ceremony.
"So people will be able to come down, have a wonderful dinner and see a great movie in what will be probably one of the most fun types of events and romantic evenings that you can imagine," Harris said.
