2019 Waikiki Spam Jam: Celebrating a Canned Delicacy While Helping Those in Need

By Richard Melendez, Digital Editor

Who doesn’t love food? Who doesn’t love a street festival? Put them together and you’ve got a street festival celebrating one of the most perfect foods around. I’m talking, of course, about Waikiki Spam Jam , taking place this Saturday, April 27, along Kalākaua Avenue.

Hawai‘i has a special love for this canned meat, dating back to its introduction to the islands during WW II. Since then, Spam has become a staple of local households and cuisine, having adapted itself to any meal of the day, plus those in-between-meal snacks. You can even find Spam on the menus of our local McDonald’s and Jack in the Box!

But if you’re like me and thinks that that Spam has the potential to stretch beyond the arbitrary constraints of saimin, musubi and breakfast meat, you’re absolutely right! And that’s why Spam Jam is the place for you! Spam Jam features local chefs and restaurants presenting Spam in a variety of novel and inventive ways, including tacos, burgers, tempura and tarts, as well as having it serve as the filling for anything from gyoza to donuts. The thoroughfare will also be lined with vendors selling Spam-themed items, and stages featuring performances by entertainers like Makana, Kings of Spade and Maunalua. If you feel like putting your culinary talents to the test, you can even compete in a Spam Musubi Making Contest.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that This Week will be there! We’ll have a booth with some fun activities, like our selfie station, where you can put yourself on the cover of an issue of This Week, and a trivia contest where you can try for a chance at winning a prize.

Most importantly, the This Week booth will be one of several collection points for canned goods throughout the event. That’s right—in addition to being a celebration of the delicious, canned delicacy, Spam Jam Waikiki is also a means to gather food and raise funds for the Hawaii Foodbank and other local non-profit agencies. So not only can you enjoy an evening of food and fun, you can make an impact for those in our community who are most in need. Just bring a canned food item (Spam or otherwise) to our booth or one of the several other designated sites.

Spam Jam will be held on Saturday, April 27th, from 4:00-10:00 p.m. Look for our booth at the Diamond Head end of the festival, near the Waikiki Beachside Hotel. Hope to see you there!