Muriel Miura Kaminaka remembers growing up in Mo'i-li'ili like a fairy tale.

"Once upon a time when I was a youngster, 50 to 60 years ago, we owned a property in Mo'i-li'ili," Kaminaka said. "In the old days all these Asian immigrants started their own mom and pop kind of operations. It was a very friendly, cozy neighborhood."

Kaminaka grew up working at her father's grocery store and vividly remembers the sights, smells and tastes of the busy neighborhood centered around the old Honolulu Stadium at King and Isenberg streets.

To give back to the community that helped shaped her life, Kaminaka helped found the Discover Mo'ili'ili Festival, now in its 10th year.

"My dad always told us if it had not been for the business, he could not have afforded to send my brother and I on to college," said Kaminaka, author of "Cook Japanese Hawaiian Style," who has been the chairwoman of the festival every year. "I really wanted to do something for Mo'ili'ili because I enjoyed a successful career and had it not been for our roots in Mo'ili'ili I would not be what I am today."

Today many of the Japanese families have moved out and new groups of immigrants from Vietnam and China populate the area and are opening shops. The festival is a look back as well as a reflection of life there today.

Discover Mo'ili'ili brings the community together, said Darryl Wong, president of the Old Town Mo'ili'ili Business Association.

"This event brings excitement to an area that has gone dormant since they moved the stadium to Halawa," Wong said.

The event is sponsored by the Moiliili Community Center and will include a craft fair, a country store and farmers market, ethnic food stands and live entertainment.

There also will be children's activities, a ghost storytelling contest and a historical photo exhibit.

There will be taiko and Okinawan drum performances, a Chinese lion dance, Vietnamese choir, Hawaiian song and dance, Chinese folk dance and traditional Japanese dance.

A free trolley will run hourly from the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki starting at 8:30 a.m. to Stadium Park and back.

Free street parking is available at Kuhio Elementary School. Parking at the Japanese Cultural Center is $3 for the day.

The event will end with a haunted gypsy camp at 5 p.m. at Church of the Crossroads and reading of ghost stories at 6, an annual tribute to the late historian and Mo'ili'ili resident Glen Grant.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.