Honolulu City Lights and the Holidays in Waikiki

Honolulu City Lights is the city’s event. It is presented by the City and County of Honolulu with the Friends of Honolulu City Lights, a nonprofit, and it has run every December for more than four decades: 2025 was the 41st year. Everything centers on Honolulu Hale and the Civic Center grounds around it, on South King Street downtown.

Outside, the centerpiece is the city’s holiday tree (in 2025, a 55-foot Cook pine), surrounded by displays that city departments decorate and a pair of local favorites, Shaka Santa and Tūtū Mele. Inside Honolulu Hale is the City Department Holiday Tree Exhibition, where departments decorate trees and enter a wreath contest. Walk the grounds after dark, when the lights are on, then step inside for the trees.

Two things are confirmed for 2026. Opening night is Saturday, December 5, 2026, and after that the displays are open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. through December. The official site, hnlcitylights.com, had not posted the rest of the opening-night schedule as of September 2026. Until it does, last year’s run is the best guide to how the night goes.

In 2025 the city also added a second location, Thomas Square Park, produced by Show Aloha Land, with light tunnels, illuminated trees, keiki train rides, craft and food vendors, and Santa. Whether it returns in 2026 has not been announced.

The displays usually stay up through the end of December. In 2025 the city planned to power down the outdoor lights on December 29, then extended them to January 3 because rain had forced several closures. Rain does close the displays, so on a wet night check the official site before you go.

Honolulu Hale is about 3 miles from Waikiki, a 10 to 15 minute drive outside opening-night traffic.

• Parking. Free public parking is at the Frank F. Fasi Municipal lot, entered from Beretania Street, with more lots in Chinatown.
• TheBus. Several routes connect Waikiki and downtown. Plan your trip on thebus.org or call (808) 848-5555.
• Opening night. Street closures and any bus reroutes are announced separately, closer to the date. The parade runs down King Street, so plan around it.
• Skip the crowd. The lights are on every night through December, so any evening after opening night works if you would rather walk the grounds without the parade crowd.

Questions go to Honolulu City Lights at (808) 768-3343.

You don’t have to leave Waikiki for the season. These run close to your hotel; our Waikiki map puts them in place.

Friday night fireworks at Hilton Hawaiian Village

Hilton Hawaiian Village sets off fireworks over Waikiki Beach every Friday at 7:45 p.m., launched from the resort’s end of the beach. They run all year, not only in December, and depend on the weather. Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, and the hotel hasn’t said whether the December 25 show goes ahead. Check its events page that week. The sand nearest the Hilton has the closest view; our guide to Waikiki’s beaches, section by section covers that stretch.

Royal Hawaiian Center

The Royal Hawaiian Center, at 2201 Kalākaua Avenue, runs the most organized holiday schedule in Waikiki. In 2025 Aloha Santa arrived on Wednesday, November 26 to light the center’s 34-foot tree at The Royal Grove, after a holiday show with live music and hula, and free photos with Santa followed. Holiday performances and Santa photos then ran on Wednesday and Sunday evenings into December, and the center held its first Waikiki Holiday Market on December 7. The 2026 dates have not been posted; check the center’s events page in November.

International Market Place

International Market Place, on Kalākaua Avenue, puts up holiday decor and runs Santa photos and shows each December, though it has not published dates. Its free hula shows run all year on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 p.m. in Queen’s Court, on Level 1. The center has posted that it stays open on Christmas Day, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; confirm the 2026 holiday hours on its website before you plan around it.

The beach is free, and you will see the fireworks from anywhere near the Hilton. A catamaran puts you under them, and on a December Friday that is a good night out. If you are booking Christmas Day itself, wait until the hotel confirms the December 25 show.

Waikiki sees in the new year with a midnight fireworks show launched from a barge offshore, visible along the whole Waikiki shoreline. The Waikiki Improvement Association has sponsored it with Hawaii Explosives & Pyrotechnics, and the 2025 show was simulcast on 105.9 The Wave FM. The listing for December 31, 2026 had not been posted as of September 2026; last year’s listing is where the new one should appear.

Any spot on the Waikiki sand works. Aloha Tower, on the downtown waterfront, has also hosted New Year’s Eve parties and dinner cruises in past years; check what is planned closer to December.

December is warm. At Honolulu’s airport the average high is about 82°F and the low about 69°F, with about 2.2 inches of rain over the month and around three days with a tenth of an inch or more, according to NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 climate normals. Pack a light layer for evenings and expect a passing shower.

Hotels fill up. Statewide hotel occupancy was 76.1% in December 2025, up from 71.4% a year earlier, and visitors statewide spent an average of $273 a person a day, up 11%, according to the state’s tourism data from DBEDT. Oahu had fewer visitors that December than the one before (492,321 arrivals, down 7.7%), but the ones who came spent more. Book your room early.

For how December compares with the rest of the year, see our guide to the best time to visit Oahu.

Waikiki is the easy base for the season: the Friday fireworks and the shopping-center events are a walk away, and Honolulu Hale is a short drive or bus ride. If you are still choosing a part of the island, start with where to stay on Oahu. For a hotel, our list of the best Waikiki hotels at every budget checks resort fees and parking hotel by hotel. Hotels at the Fort DeRussy end of Waikiki are the closest to the Friday fireworks.

Filling the days in between? Our list of things to do in Oahu covers the whole island.