I enjoyed the festival today, with a bit of reservation. Got there faster than I thought, about 30 minutes when I thought it might take an hour, about 8:40 am. The check-in line was long and should have wound from the opposite side of the check-in booth, many people were confused where they should go and, the signs were too small and the line interfered with access to a degree. Also, the first thing scheduled was a drawing, but very few people had a chance to buy a ticket, so having a drawing didn't make much sense.
The entertainment in the plaza was really good, and the free booths area had some very interesting items, I might end up ordering a custom bass uke from one or another vendor. I attended a couple of workshops, Jim Beloff is really good, as was Craig Chee, but Milo for the bass uke workshop was rather confusing, mixed teaching about bass playing and uke playing, I had to explain each element to my confused friend I was sitting next to. I don't get why a bass workshop included ukulele.
I brought a couple of sandwiches, but there was no line for the Seasons Catering so I bought a curry plate that was great. I then saw that Rutts had a booth near the plaza entrance, which sold out shortly after lunch time and closed up. Next to them was a shaved ice booth, and outside the entrance was a food truck and a hot dog cart.
There seemed to be a lot of attendees, in between workshops the plaza performance area was really full, and the workshops I attended were packed. I brought a little cart that converts to a chair that I attached my double tenor gig bag with my uke and music stand, glad I did since a couple of workshops and plaza were so full I had to use it. I stepped into the Paul Simon tribute, but it wasn't very dynamic with just a bass player, so I moved on.
I was planning to stay until 6 pm, but about 3 pm I found I had seen plenty and tired out, I left. All-in-all, I had a good time.
This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 11 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 35)
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