Food + music + fellowship = a festival.

And three festivals this weekend add up to ethnic diversity, cuisine, comedy and music combining for a mixed plate of party fun.

In Hawai'i, festivals take on an Island spin. They're outdoorsy attractions. Crowds flock, by the thousands. Local celebs dot the stagescape.

You eat, you listen, you go home tired — but happy.

Here's a primer:

ALOHA FESTIVALS WAIKIKI HO'OLAULE'A

Call it the biggest block party.

Easily, 50,000 will assemble on Kalakaua Avenue tonight, when the Aloha Festivals' Waikiki Ho'olaule'a, a cornerstone event, unfolds from 7 p.m.

Perhaps more, said Charlian Wright, executive director of Aloha Festivals.

"I think we're going to draw bigger crowds because there's so much different entertainment — and because there's no Downtown Ho'olaule'a this year," Wright said.

There used to be two block parties — one Downtown, one in Waikiki. The Downtown party is history, with several events moved to the suburbs instead.

That could mean a rush and crush for limited Waikiki parking; and an opportunity to mingle with visitors, who have the edge because most will be ensconced in hotels.

But there's potential delight with a range of musical acts performing on eight stages between Lewers Street and Kapahulu Avenue. This is the essence of the Ho'olaule'a hoopla.

Even hula halau from Japan — here for Saturday's attempt to create the longest hula line (3,500 dancers) to break a Guinness World Records entry — are dancing in the ho'olaule'a. The longest-line-hula event is coordinated by Iwalani Tseu and Coranne Park-Chun, and commemorates the 55th anniversary of the ho'olaule'a.

The stages will be surrounded by 23 food booths offering an array of snacks and plate lunches, plus six lei booths for those who want to feel Lei Day-ish. Three merchandise booths also will sell keepsake T-shirts, in limited supply this year, and $5 Aloha Festivals ribbons.

This year's festival theme, "Ke Kahua Lani O Hawai'i (Hawai'i's Beloved Royal Playgrounds)," reflects the outside-of-Honolulu perspective. The Kapolei Mele, held Saturday in Kapolei, was an attempt to bring the party to the suburbs. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the Fourth Annual Keiki Ho'olaule'a, at Pearlridge Center, is another attempt to schedule festival happenings outside the Honolulu corridor.

WINDWARD HO'OLAULE'A

With "Homegrown Celebration" as this year's theme, the Windward Ho'olaule'a primarily is an open house of the Windward Community College grounds, in the shadows of the Ko'olaus.

"That's always been the original idea, to showcase the campus," said Janis Chun, a self-employed real-estate woman on the Windward side, co-chairwoman of the event for the third time and a participant for the seventh.

Crowds of 20,000, possibly up to 25,000, are expected. "Come spend the day with us on the Windward side," Chun said.

About 50 craft booths and 10 food booths, most by outside vendors, will provide wearables, collectibles and edibles.

The only WCC food vendors will be situated in the cafeteria, offering culinary creations by the students, including a bread pudding that's in demand year after year.

For the first time, too, departmental sales will support departmental projects. Cafeteria sales will help the culinary program, Chun said; ceramics purchases will go to the ceramics club.

The festival is family-friendly, with keiki games galore. And the Imaginarium, part of the high-tech attractions on campus, will be open for tours.

For music buffs, there's plenty of variety — pop, Hawaiian, hula, reggae, jazz — both morning and afternoon.

The schedule: