Between now and New Year's Eve, Kāʻanapali offers a lot to someone who lives a short drive away and has no plans to book a room. There's a free NCAA tournament, a free weekly program at Whalers Village that runs every Friday and Saturday, a costume parade, a lobby tree lighting with a Maui artisan night market, and a fire-knife show on the last night of the year.
Most of it is free and follows a set schedule. Once you know the weekly pattern, the special dates fit around it.
The weekly pattern at the ʻOhana Courtyard
Start with what repeats. Whalers Village runs free cultural programming in its ʻOhana Courtyard on a fixed schedule, and in practice the season is built around it.
| Day | Time | Program | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | 10:30–11:30 a.m. | ʻUkulele playing, instruments provided | Free |
| Friday | Noon–1 p.m. | Coconut-frond weaving | Free |
| Saturday | 11 a.m.–noon | Hula | Free |
| Friday, Saturday, Sunday | 30 minutes after sunset | Movie Nights | Free |
Friday is the fullest day. ʻUkulele and weaving back to back fill the late morning, and the screen comes on after dark. The Movie Nights schedule changes theme with the calendar. October is Halloween films, then the lineup shifts to Hawaiʻi and holiday titles:
- October 16 and 18: Casper
- October 23 and 25: Hocus Pocus
- October 24: Frankenweenie
- October 30: The Addams Family, animated
- October 31: No movie, because of ʻOhanaween
- November 1: The Addams Family 2
- November 6 and 8: Lilo & Stitch, animated
- November 7: Lilo & Stitch, live action
- November 13: Wicked
- November 14: Wicked: For Good
The posted schedule runs past mid-November, so it's worth checking the page again before Thanksgiving for the December titles.
The week the Royal course opens to the public
The biggest date this fall falls in the same week as the Halloween movies. The 2026 Kāʻanapali Classic by OUTRIGGER, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi, plays October 25 through 28 on the Royal Kāʻanapali Golf Course. Admission is free and walking spectators are welcome.
The field is about 20 Division I men's teams. Among the names on the tournament page are Georgia, Clemson, TCU, Purdue, Gonzaga, Colorado, Kansas, Houston, UConn and the host Rainbow Warriors. Play starts with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. every day, so every group tees off at once and the whole course is busy at the same time.
October 25 is a Sunday. You can watch the morning shotgun on the Royal course, take a break during the afternoon, and come back to the ʻOhana Courtyard for Hocus Pocus after sunset. That's free college golf and a free movie on the same day, a few minutes apart.
On Tuesday, October 27, the tournament holds a free UH junior golf clinic for Maui keiki from 3 to 4 p.m. The tournament page also carries a "Maui Strong" note thanking the event for supporting families affected by the wildfires.
The page doesn't say where spectators should park, and the course's own parking page returned an error when we checked. Plan to check with the course before you go. One more caution: some "results" links on the page still open 2024 news releases, so they don't reflect this year's scores yet.
Halloween replaces the Saturday movie
On Saturday, October 31, Whalers Village drops its movie night for ʻOhanaween, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m. across the whole center. The listing includes:
- Free trick-or-treating at participating shops and restaurants
- Bounce houses, face painting, keiki games and live entertainment
- A judged costume contest at 5 p.m.
- A costume parade at 5:30 p.m.
The listing doesn't give age groups for the contest. Arriving around 4:30 leaves time to trick-or-treat before the 5 p.m. judging. The movies return the next night, Sunday, November 1, with The Addams Family 2.
After Thanksgiving, the events move to the resort lawns
Once Halloween is over, the program shifts from the shopping center to the hotels. The Westin Maui announced its 2026 holiday season on October 8, and the Hyatt Regency Maui has posted its own December dates. Here they are in order:
- November 17 to December 31: Santa's Hideout takes over The Valley Alley at the Westin, with duckpin bowling, arcade games, virtual reality, candy cane martinis and gingerbread lattes.
- Friday, November 27: The Westin lights its Christmas tree in the main lobby, then holds a craft fair with Maui artisans and vendors on Hōkūpaʻa Lawn from 5 to 9 p.m.
- December 14 to 25: The Hyatt runs an Elf on the Shelf activity daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- December 24: Santa visits the Westin's tree for photos, followed by a keiki hula performance.
- December 24 and 25: The Hyatt runs rooftop Tour of the Stars Santa Watch sessions at 8, 9, 10 and 11 p.m. if the weather cooperates, plus a Halona Kai Holiday Village at 5 p.m. with an outdoor holiday movie, a buffet and Santa photos. Tickets for the Holiday Village were listed as "available soon."
- December 27: The Kamehameha Schools Choir performs at the Westin.
- December 28: Maui Taiko performs at the Westin.
- New Year's Eve: The Westin holds a fire-knife performance on Hōkūpaʻa Lawn at 7 p.m. and a midnight drone show.
The November 27 tree lighting is a good one to plan around. It falls the day after Thanksgiving, on a Friday, so you can play ʻukulele at the courtyard that morning and walk the artisan night market at the Westin that evening. The Westin is also collecting toys and donations at a lobby donation tree for local children.
Neither resort has posted prices or said whether non-guests can attend. Call the resort before planning around the choir, the taiko show or the New Year's Eve program.
Parking decides how long you stay
The weekly programs only cost nothing if parking is cheap too. Whalers Village charges $8 an hour in its garage, up to $50 a day, and validates parking with a minimum purchase at any shop or restaurant in the center. Local parking is in the north-side garage, with a smaller surface lot on the south side. The FAQ doesn't say how much you have to spend or how many hours a validation covers. Ask at the register when you buy something.
For a whole Friday, from ʻukulele through the evening movie, it helps to buy something you'd want anyway. On the dining side, Via! by Sale Pepe opened at Whalers Village in 2025 as a fast-casual spot from the owners of Lahaina's Sale Pepe, according to The Maui News. Island Vintage Coffee, Hula Grill, Leilani's On The Beach and Monkeypod Kitchen are also on the center's dining list.
Beach parking further down Kāʻanapali Parkway may change. At its August 25, 2026 meeting, the Maui Planning Commission added a condition to a permit for the Outrigger Kāʻanapali Beach Resort at 2525 Kāʻanapali Parkway. The resort would provide and maintain 20 more public beach-access stalls on top of the 10 it has now, for 30 in total. They'd be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and five would stay open around the clock for people doing Hawaiian cultural practices. That condition belongs to a $22 million modernization project. Its application was still marked "In Review" with a projected completion in August 2026, and we found nothing confirming the work is done. Until the new stalls are painted and signed, plan on the 10 that exist today. The meeting minutes have the full wording of the condition.
One event that moved off the beach
If your fall routine used to include keiki hula on the beach, that changed this year. Hula O Nā Keiki held its 2025 competition at OUTRIGGER Kāʻanapali Beach Resort, and the 2026 edition took place October 9 and 10 at Kamehameha Schools Maui. The ticket listing puts it at Keōpūolani Hale in Makawao. For free hula closer to home, the Saturday 11 a.m. session in the ʻOhana Courtyard runs every week through the season.
If you're putting these dates in your calendar and wondering what a place near this courtyard, course and coastline would look like for your household, Chaston Marcos is happy to share what we see on the ground in Kāʻanapali, Saturday hula included. Let's Connect.
