The plantation heritage town of Pahala will celebrate its first Ka'u Coffee Festival April 24 to 26. Events will include Miss Ka'u Coffee Pageant, Ka'u Coffee Ho'olaule'a (admission is free) with coffee tasting, entertainment, food, education, arts and crafts and games for the keiki, a Ka'u Coffee Recipe Contest, Ka'u Coffee Song Contest, farm tours, and the Ka'u Coffee Academy, a daylong series of workshops on coffee farming and processing.

The Ka'u Coffee Festival is a chance to try a variety of Ka'u estate coffees, meet the farmers, and experience the vistas and rural charm of Ka'u.

www.kaucoffeefestival.com, 808-929-9550.

ALASKA

TO REALLY SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, YOU GOTTA GO (WHERE ELSE?) NORTH

Winter is the season to bundle up and head north, far north, for a glimpse of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, colorful, undulating curtains of light in the night sky. A favorite observation point is Fairbanks, Alaska, where the Westmark Fairbanks Hotel & Conference Center offers a "Northern Lights Package" geared to the spectacle.

In addition to overnight accommodations, the combo covers a northern lights wake-up call and map of prime viewing areas, as well as hot chocolate, cookies and hand warmers. Other perks are a breakfast buffet and late checkout so guests can catch up on their sleep after their night out scanning the sky. $95 plus tax for two, the "Northern Lights Package" goes dark after April 15. 800-544-0970; www.westmarkhotels.com.

— Chicago Tribune

SPRING BREAK

STUDENTS WARNED: THIS YEAR, BETTER TO PASS ON MEXICO

The U.S. State Department and universities around the country are warning college students heading to Mexico at spring break of a surge in drug-related murder and mayhem south of the border. Thousands of high school and college students travel to Mexican resort areas during spring break each year.

The University of Arizona in Tucson is urging students not to go to Mexico. Penn State, Notre Dame, the University of Colorado and the University at Buffalo are calling students' attention to the travel warning issued Feb. 20 by the State Department.

"Sage advice," said Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "We have had documented violence, attacks, killings, shootouts with the drug cartels involving not only the military but law enforcement personnel. It is indiscriminate violence, and innocent people have been caught up in that collateral damage."

More than 6,000 people were killed in drug violence in Mexico last year.

— Associated Press