A list of the events you don't want to miss

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

April and July: The Hawaii International Jazz Festival offers two series this year. Advertiser library photos

Haul out that new calendar/planner and start entering some key dates. Some are obvious; a few are elusive (like Chinese New Year); a couple are non-holidays, but festive celebrations.

By jotting them down now, you'll have fewer regrets in the weeks — and months — to come.

JANUARY

• 10-16: Sony Open
• 16: Golden Globes, live from Hollywood; televised by NBC
• 17: Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday holiday; the actual birthdate is Jan. 15, a Saturday; the day off, for those who get, is on Monday
• 29: 'Iolani Palace's Queen's Ball

Feb. 4-5: The annual Punahou Carnival, offering games, rides, food booths, an art gallery and more, attracts attendees from across the island to the Makiki campus.

• 4-5: Punahou Carnival
• 5: Hawaiian Humane Society's Tuxes and Tails: Bone Appetit
• 6: Super Bowl
• 8: Mardi Gras
• 9: Start of Chinese New Year; and the Year of the Rooster
• 13: Pro Bowl
• 13: 47th Grammy Awards; originates from Staples Center in Los Angeles; televised by CBS
• 14: Valentine's Day
• 21: Presidents Day, a holiday
• 21: Great Aloha Run
• 26: American Heart Association Heart Ball
• 27: 77th Academy Awards; live from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland, carried by ABC

MARCH

• 12: La Pietra's Hoopla Goes to Hollywood
• 17: St. Patrick's Day. Wear green, be Irish for the day
• 20: Palm Sunday; also, the first day of spring
• 25: Good Friday
• 25: Prince Kuhio Day; actual birthdate is March 26
• 27: Easter Sunday
• 31: Merrie Monarch Festival begins, Hilo

APRIL

• 1: April Fools' Day
• 1: Make-a-Wish Foundation's April Foolish
• 1-2: Hawaii International Jazz Festival's "Swingtime in Hawaii" Part II (April 1 on O'ahu, April 2 on Maui)
• 1-2: Merrie Monarch Festival, Hilo
• 1-7: Hawaii International Film Festival's Spring Fling
• 3: Daylight-Saving Time begins. In Hawai'i, this doesn't mean a thing, except it will be three hours' difference from the West Coast, and an additional hour in other time zones eastward
• 5: Ching Ming Festival
• 29: Hawai'i Theatre Center's Gala

MAY

• 1: Lei Day
• 5: Cinco de Mayo
• 7: Honolulu Symphony ball
• 8: Mother's Day
• 15: Life Foundation AIDS walk
• 21: Armed Forces Day
• 30: Memorial Day

June 10: Kamehameha Day festivities include a lei-draping of the statue in downtown.

• 10: Kamehameha Day; parade June 11
• 10-12: Pan Pacific Matsuri Festival
• 14: Flag Day. Fly the red, white and blue
• 15-19: Maui Film Festival
• 19: Father's Day
• 21: First day of summer
• 24-26: Taste of Honolulu
• 24-26: King Kamehameha Hula Festival

JULY

• 1: Hawai'i Foodbank Patriots' Celebration
• 4: Independence Day (Fourth of July)
• 9: The Contemporary Museum's Artspree 2005
• 29-30: Hawaii International Jazz Festival, O'ahu

AUGUST

• 7: Friendship Day. Do unto a friend, what you might want done for you.
• 19: Statehood Day

SEPTEMBER

• 5: Labor Day
• 9: Aloha Festivals Waikiki Ho'olaule'a
• 16: Aloha Festivals Downtown Ho'olaule'a
• 11: Grandparents Day
• 17: Aloha Festivals floral parade

OCTOBER

• 4: Rosh Hashanah
• 9: Children's Day
• 10: Discoverers Day; sometimes called Columbus Day
• 13: Yom Kippur
• 15: Ironman Triathalon World Championship, Kona
• 20-30: Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival
• 30: Daylight-Saving Time ends. Don't reset your clocks here; just note that it will be two hours' difference to the West Coast, and one hour less, too, for each time zone eastward
• 31: Halloween

NOVEMBER

• 11: Veterans Day
• 24: Thanksgiving

Dec. 11: The Honolulu Marathon draws thousands of runners from around the world.

• 3: Honolulu City Lights, through Jan. 8
• 11: Honolulu Marathon
• 24: Christmas Eve
• 25: Christmas; holiday observed Dec. 26 for federal and state employees and others
• 26: First day of Hanukkah, first day of Kwanzaa
• 31: New Year's Eve; Jan. 1 holiday observed Dec. 31 for federal employees

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.