When did you last stand barefoot in a loʻi kalo ten minutes from your house? If the answer is "never," or "on a school field trip years ago," this fall is a good time to change that. You'll just need to plan ahead more than you might expect.
From Waiheʻe Valley down to the Heʻeia wetlands, Kaneohe's October and November calendar is mostly run by the community organizations that care for this ahupuaʻa. These include KEY Project, Paepae o Heʻeia, Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha, and Aloha Animal Sanctuary up on Pulama Road. Some of their events are free and you can just walk in. The most hands-on days need a reservation, though, and the lead times vary a lot from one group to the next.
The fishpond books out further than you'd guess
Paepae o Heʻeia holds its Saturday community workdays at Heʻeia Fishpond on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of most months. They run 8:30 a.m. to noon, and the staff provides lunch. The work is real. You might move rock and coral, haul floating barges through the water, cut out invasive mangrove, pull invasive limu, or help rebuild the kuapā, the stone wall that encloses the pond. The work is suited to ages 12 and up.
The timing is the catch. In its own words, Paepae says these days "fill up early (sometimes months in advance)," and an RSVP is required. It asks volunteers to reach out one to two months before the date they want, and warns that you may be moved to a later project if your date is full. Dates are posted on the group's Instagram, @paepaeoheeia.
If Paepae keeps its usual pattern this year, the Saturdays would fall on October 10 and 24 and November 14 and 28. Those dates are a calendar calculation, though, and Paepae hasn't confirmed them. If you send a request this week, it's realistic to expect a date in late fall or early winter rather than this month. Paepae also has a quieter option. Staff work most weekday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon and accept volunteers by RSVP, but lunch isn't served on those days.
Whichever day you get, bring covered shoes or tabis, since you can't take part without them. Also pack reef-friendly sunscreen, a refillable water bottle, and your own bowl and utensil for lunch. Paepae emails the meeting spot the week of your workday.
Across the bridge, the loʻi still had October openings
Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi works the Heʻeia wetlands at 46-406 Kamehameha Highway, and booking there is simpler. Its loʻi and mala workdays run Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. Tasks include weeding, planting and harvesting, and you sign up through SignUpGenius. When we checked, the sign-up page listed October dates through the 30th. The October 5 slot was already full, and no November weekday dates had been posted yet.
The packing list says a lot about the work. Kākoʻo suggests slippers for the walk to the loʻi kalo, because volunteers usually go in barefoot. It also warns that tabis have "a great chance" of getting sucked into the mud and lost. When you arrive, go through the main gate and check in at ʻŌpū Nui, the large building near the entrance.
If you can only make a Saturday, Kākoʻo holds a community workday on the first Saturday of each month from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The next one on the sign-up page is November 7. You'll fill out a liability waiver online before you arrive and park in front of the poi mill.
Kākoʻo also runs conservation workdays, which clear invasive plants and put in native species in the wetland or in mauka areas. The schedules don't match. The main volunteer page lists Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., while the sign-up page shows Monday slots running to noon on October 12, 19 and 26. For wetland days, the entrance is the Kealohi gate, a red cattle gate on the left just after the Heʻeia Bridge as you head toward Kahaluʻu.
Three Saturdays where the calendar stacks up
Once you have a workday booked, the rest of the season fits around it. Three dates are especially full. On October 10 and November 7, the morning and afternoon events don't overlap. On October 24, the Imaginarium's Halloween shows begin while Nā Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi is still running at the mall, so catching a show means leaving the storytelling by early afternoon.
| Date | Morning | Afternoon and evening |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Art Among the Animals, Aloha Animal Sanctuary, 10 a.m. to noon | Waiheʻe Festival at KEY Project, 4 to 8 p.m., if the Saturday listing is correct |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Nā Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi at Windward Mall, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Hōkūlani Imaginarium Halloween shows with Nightwalk, 1 and 2 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi community workday, 8:30 a.m. to noon | Aloha Animal Sanctuary Fall Festival, 2 to 3:30 or 3:30 to 5 p.m. |
Waiheʻe Festival. This is KEY Project's third annual Waiheʻe Fest, held at 47-200 Waihee Road. It offers free Hawaiian cultural workshops such as lei making and ʻohe kapala, live mele and hula, and Native Hawaiian vendors selling crafts and food. Last year's festival was on October 11, 2025, and had about 20 vendors. Food and merchandise sales support KEY Project's programs in Koʻolau. The date is the one thing to check before you go. KEY Project's own page says "Friday, October 9th," while the event listing from sponsor KS Kaiāulu says Saturday, October 10, from 4 to 8 p.m. Check with KEY Project before you set aside both evenings.
Nā Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi. This free fundraiser for Koʻolau ʻĀina Aloha and Paepae o Heʻeia brings live storytelling to Windward Mall. It also features a high school art competition in which haumāna and kūpuna teams portray moʻolelo of Hawaiʻi Island. Mask kits cost $15 each, went on presale September 16, and are in limited supply. Each kit includes a papier-mâché mask, ten markers and a reserved table. You pay for block printing on site, so bring a T-shirt, pareu, malo, kihei or hand towel to print on. The organizers' number is 808-236-6178, and parking is free.
The Imaginarium. Hōkūlani Imaginarium at Windward Community College takes reservations at 808-235-7350. The box office also sells tickets starting 30 minutes before each show.
Weeknights and the rest of November
These organizations fill the weeknights too, along with a few events that don't fit the Saturday pattern.
- Oct. 14, 7 p.m.: Stargazing at Hōkūlani Imaginarium.
- Oct. 16, 5 to 8 p.m.: Keiki Book Jam at KEY Project, with dinner provided.
- Oct. 23, 6 to 8:30 p.m.: "Olympic Plates," a hands-on cooking and lifestyle evening inspired by the Greek island of Ikaria, at the Hale ʻĀkoakoa Cafeteria at Windward Community College, 45-720 Keaʻahala Road.
- Oct. 31, 3 to 4:30 p.m.: Haunted Sanctuary Tour at Aloha Animal Sanctuary, 47-119 Pulama Road.
- Nov. 6, 7 and 8 p.m.: The Imaginarium shows "5000 Eyes" and "Origins of Life," followed by stargazing on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. and the Pink Floyd show on Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
- Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Parker United Methodist Church's annual Kaneʻohe community craft fair.
What comes after November
The season keeps going after the leaves would normally fall, if we had that kind of fall. Every November, KEY Project's team, partners and volunteers spend days getting a traditional imu ready on its grounds. On Thanksgiving eve, about 350 turkeys go into the ground overnight. They come out early Thanksgiving morning and are sorted and handed out to families while still hot. After that comes the Kāneʻohe Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 5, 2026. It runs from Windward Mall to Castle High School, and the start time hasn't been posted yet.
If you want a fishpond Saturday in that stretch between Thanksgiving and the parade, Paepae's one-to-two-month lead time means the request needs to go out this month.
At Homes of Hawai'i Real Estate, we're based in Kailua and share the same Koʻolau calendar, so we follow these windward events closely. If you're trying to figure out which Heʻeia workday or Waiheʻe evening fits your family's fall, reach out and we'll gladly pass along what we know.
