About Us
Bringing You the Best of Kona
Kona is a singular and special place that draws people from around the world to its beautiful shores. In appreciation of that uniqueness, the founders of The Best of Kona Festival decided to organize a celebration that wraps all the amazing aspects of life in Kona together. This one day festival promotes the lifestyle we enjoy and want to share with fellow residents, visitors and newcomers.
The 2022
Best of Kona Festival
The Best of Kona Festival is a “first of its kind” lifestyle festival in West Hawaii bringing together all the best that Kona has to offer. The festival is being held on April 16, 2022 at the Kona Inn Shopping Center from 11 am – 6 pm.
Intro to The 2022 festival Venue
Our Team
The Festival directors are Julie Ziemelis, 365 Hawaii Real Estate Team and creator of 365Kona-365 Things to Do in Kona, and Aesha Shapiro, owner of Aesha Rose Event and Design and creator of the Ladies Artisan Market. With our combined experience in creating media buzz, social media influence, marketing, event production, public relations and logistics, we make an excellent team.
Julie Ziemelis
Co-Founder and Festival Director
Julie Ziemelis, owner of Ziemelis Communications and 365Hawaii, has been a resident of Kona for 17 years. She is a social media influencer and founder of the Kona Newbies group with 3,000 members, co-founded the Big Island Chocolate Festival, blogs daily on “365 Things to Do In Kona” on Facebook, vlogs on YouTube at 365Hawaii and is a community volunteer. She has written three books about Kailua Kona and is a proponent of local economic development.
Aesha Shapiro
Co-Founder-Festival Director
Born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii, Aesha Shapiro, founded the Ladies Artisan Market (LAM) and the LAM Networking group for businesswomen which has grown to over 1050 members. Aesha also owns an Event planning business, Aesha Rose Event & Design. Through her event business, she created Fourth Fridays at Lanihau Center and has been the event planner for the Kona Coffee Farmers Expo. She was the Marketing Director for the Big island Chocolate Festival, and is very passionate about supporting the Big Island community through volunteer and outreach work.
