Thousands of people attended this year’s Punahou Carnival on February 6-7, bringing in tens of thousands of dollars to help fund Punahou’s financial aid; the majority of the workers were students. Specifically, academy juniors made up a large portion of the workforce, with nearly all of them serving as booth chairs.

Booth chairs handled carnival stands like Food, Games, White Elephant, and Haku Leis. They also had to work 15+ hours in a 2-day time span.

Students report that the food booths were the most difficult booths to work. Esalen Choi ‘26 exclaimed, “Malasadas were very fun, but it was constantly busy, and there was always sugar flying everywhere.” Another booth that students typically say is difficult to work is the hamburger booth.

Though these booths are usually difficult, what makes students want to work this booth is their experiences from the years prior. “I chose to work hamburgers because I worked hamburgers last year and I remember it being very fun, so I was excited to work it again,” said Erika Ishikawa ‘27. 

Other booths that students ran were Games. Students had to help pick out prizes and design the booth. “It was really fun to work with all the kids and see the excitement on their faces,” said Kaz Wachendorf ‘26. 

The White Elephant booth also gains a lot of traction, selling second-hand items for a lower price; all of the items sold are acquired through donations and drives. Students said they enjoyed working at this booth because they were able to build a lot of connections with their classmates. “While working white elephant, you get to spend a lot of time with the people around you, and you can talk to not just the customers but also the people you’re working with,” said Keiko Shinha ‘27. 

Students also reported that the booth chair application process was oftentimes easy: “All I had to do was fill out the form and work in the previous years, and I became a booth chair,” Erika Ishikawa ‘27 remarked.

However, to prepare for carnival, students from every booth section had to help. Food made signs and attended fire safety trainings, Games had to make signs and decorate the booths, and White elephant had to run drives and organize all of the donations. 

After working and preparing for Carnival, though it may have been stressful, students said they really enjoyed it and recommend it for the younger grades. Mallory Watanabe ‘26 stated, “I enjoyed being a booth chair for Malasadas Ewa, because I was able to get to know more of my classmates, and I was able to give back to the Punahou community. I think everyone should be a booth chair.”