Ukulele festivals worth flying to for a short vacation?

rainbow21

Well-known member
UU VIP
Joined
Sep 30, 2018
Messages
2,725
Reaction score
4,140
Location
NorCal
Looking forward to next year's calendar and I am considering combining a vacation (3 days to a week) with an ukulele festival. The festival should feature excellent classes (intermediate level) and a program distinguished enough from smaller local festivals. Two or three days may be ideal. The destination should also be tourist friendly as I may be accompanied by my wife who is not an ukulele player.

So can you recommend one in your neck of the woods or one that you have attended that is worthy of travelling to by air?
 
Great question! I've been to a couple within driving distance for me and am interested in what's going on elsewhere.

The two I've been to were quite different from each other, but I don't know what (if anything) distinguishes them from others. I'd recommend either (with the big caveat that future Ukulele Hot Springs have not yet been announced)

The Port Townsend Ukulele Festival (Port Townsend, WA) was stellar this year and am going back next year. The 2020 version will be Sept 9-13 and registration is open now (and thank you for reminding me to check ;) ). The instructor staff was excellent and there were three days of 90 minute classes sessions, with a mix of drop-in classes (complete in one session) and 3-day classes that continued the curriculum over three sessions. It takes place in an ocean-front state park. There's tons of stuff to do nearby in the summer, but I'm not sure what all's open and available in September.

Ukulele Hot Springs (Harrison Hot Springs, BC) last month was brilliant in a completely different way. It was quite structured: everybody signed up for a specific track (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced) and was sent ahead of time 3 pieces of instrumental music to learn with different parts for beginners, intermediates, and advanced. At the event there were four overall sessions (one for each song plus a secret song) where everybody started out in one room and butchered the overall piece, then split up by part with instructor to bring the part together, then came back to perform it as a group. It was at a resort with hot springs and catered to bringing partners along. Future events were teased but nothing's been announced.
 
Looking forward to next year's calendar and I am considering combining a vacation (3 days to a week) with an ukulele festival. The festival should feature excellent classes (intermediate level) and a program distinguished enough from smaller local festivals. Two or three days may be ideal. The destination should also be tourist friendly as I may be accompanied by my wife who is not an ukulele player.

So can you recommend one in your neck of the woods or one that you have attended that is worthy of travelling to by air?

I have signed u for this one. https://lascrucesukefest.com/ This year they will have Daniel Ho, Casey McGill, Del Rey and Stu Fuchs. To me that sounds like an outstanding lineup, and New Mexico is so beautiful.
 
Great question! I've been to a couple within driving distance for me and am interested in what's going on elsewhere.

The two I've been to were quite different from each other, but I don't know what (if anything) distinguishes them from others. I'd recommend either (with the big caveat that future Ukulele Hot Springs have not yet been announced)

The Port Townsend Ukulele Festival (Port Townsend, WA) was stellar this year and am going back next year. The 2020 version will be Sept 9-13 and registration is open now (and thank you for reminding me to check ;) ). The instructor staff was excellent and there were three days of 90 minute classes sessions, with a mix of drop-in classes (complete in one session) and 3-day classes that continued the curriculum over three sessions. It takes place in an ocean-front state park. There's tons of stuff to do nearby in the summer, but I'm not sure what all's open and available in September.

Ukulele Hot Springs (Harrison Hot Springs, BC) last month was brilliant in a completely different way. It was quite structured: everybody signed up for a specific track (Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced) and was sent ahead of time 3 pieces of instrumental music to learn with different parts for beginners, intermediates, and advanced. At the event there were four overall sessions (one for each song plus a secret song) where everybody started out in one room and butchered the overall piece, then split up by part with instructor to bring the part together, then came back to perform it as a group. It was at a resort with hot springs and catered to bringing partners along. Future events were teased but nothing's been announced.

Ukulele Hot Springs was amazing, and the location was breathtaking. I stayed at the Beach Hotel with views of both the lake mountains and just the mountains with a fireplace. Unfortunately, the next one wouldn't be for 2 years.
 
I haven't been to it yet but I've been kicking around going to this one.

https://hawaiiislandukuleleretreat.com/

Oh man that looks awesome. And just a reasonable drive from Kona airport, so could do it as a day trip from Oahu. And just a couple blocks from the funny Cigar & Uke store if I had to buy a uke to attend the workshop ... so tempting, but registration on hold right now ...
 
The Denver Uke Fest put on by Swallow Hill (our local folk music association) is truly great every year. The dates for 2020 have not been announced yet (typically it is held in May each year), so if you decide that a trip to the Mile High city is something you'd want to do, keep abreast of their release dates -- the Weekend and All-Day passes tend to sell out very quickly. There is lots to do in Denver away from the Ukulele festival and there are some remarkably outstanding restaurants for dining.

For some reason the URLs I tried to attach are not working properly. Please just search "Denver Uke Fest" and you can see the 2019 festival features.
 
Last edited:
Looks like all the festivals mentioned are worthy of consideration. Keep the suggestions coming.

I should mention that the SF Ukefest is a worthy "fly to" trip, landing you in the San Francisco Bay Area (July 24-26, 2020). This year it will be across the bay near the University of California at Berkeley. It is fun and instructive trip with a really "tight" and friendly group of young instructors. This past year included Cynthia Lin, Ukulenny, Craig and Sarah, Aldrine Guerrero and Aaron Nakamura, Steven Espaniola, and Abe Lagrimas, Jr.
 
I just got home from TBUG - Tampa Bay Ukulele Getaway. Three days at the Sirata Beach Resort on St. Pete Beach. It was fabulous. Artists & workshop instructors- Mim, Craig Chee & Sarah Maisel, Victoria Vox, Devon Rose, Jessica Rose, Ukulele Russ, and Pete McCarty. I’m a native of that area & have family there, so it was a combo ukulele/family visit trip.
 
If you can attend anything where Aldrine performs, by all means, go for it! He is amazing.
 
This summer I was at my first local music camp (Kenosee Lake Kitchen Party) that had Marcie Marxer and Cathy Fink as instructors. It was quite an experience to share a week with them and the many other talented instructors and participants. They are asking for suggestions for instructors in the next year, so I am wondering if you can recommend any ukulele teachers who do this kind of thing - travelling around to events like festivals and music camps etc.
 
Agree. If I were going to attend a festival/vacation, I'd to one of the islands. https://www.ukulelefestivalhawaii.org/en/

I actually am NOT that interested in one in Hawaii. It is my favorite place to vacation and I do not want to sit around multiple days playing uke while there are plate lunches to eat and shave ice to snack on. There is a lot of uke playing and Hawaiian music almost everywhere and I would include The Ukulele Site and the K tours to satisfy my uke cravings on any trip to the islands.
 
Are there certain uke events that are more likely to showcase uke builders and give you a chance to play their instruments?
 
Top Bottom