BISAC’s free Summer Jam returns to Hilo with health fair, keiki zone
BISAC drew Hilo families to a free Summer Jam with a health fair, craft booths and Keiki Fun Zone, keeping prevention and recovery outreach in the open.
The Big Island Substance Abuse Council’s 12th annual Summer Jam returned to Hilo as a free, family-friendly festival built around food vendors, a health fair, a craft fair and a Keiki Fun Zone. BISAC used the event to put prevention and recovery outreach in front of families in a setting that felt more like a community gathering than a clinic waiting room.
That approach matters in East Hawaii, where a low-cost Saturday outing can be hard to find and where substance-use services need to be visible to reach the people who may not walk into them on their own. By folding health information into entertainment, crafts and children’s activities, BISAC created a public space where parents, keiki and kupuna could move between fun and service resources without a hard sell.
The council’s work in Hilo has extended beyond the festival grounds. BISAC launched the Hulihia Ke Ola Detox Clinic at 41 Hoku St. in Hilo in January 2024, giving the organization a more direct role in local detox and recovery support. Hawaii County had already signaled the scale of the need in July 2023, when it planned to use opioid settlement funds for a detox center in Hilo. Summer Jam fit that broader response by keeping BISAC visible in the community as a health provider, not just a nonprofit name.
The event has also developed into one of BISAC’s most recognizable annual traditions. In 2025, the organization promoted Summer Jam at the Wong Stadium parking lot from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and listed craft vendors, Eat the Street, a truck pull and a strongman competition. Hawaii Tribune-Herald also noted Isaiah Berg lifting a weight during the Strong Man/Strong Woman competition at the 2023 Summer Jam in Hilo, while Big Island Now highlighted the Strongest Man and Woman contest as a crowd draw the following year.
That long-running mix of community festival and outreach is what has kept Summer Jam going for 12 years. BISAC’s ability to combine a health fair with a broad public event gave the council a way to meet Hilo families where they already were, while keeping prevention, treatment and recovery part of the conversation in a county still working to expand those resources.
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