HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Ukulele Festival Hawaii strummed its first keys Sunday morning.
For 51 years, the celebration of one of Hawaii’s greatest musical instruments has graced the picturesque setting of Kapiolani Park’s bandstand in Waikiki, but like many events the festival is going virtual this year.
“We have three mini events starting from today leading up to the big festival July 18th so once a month different themes,” said organizers Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel.
Sunday was the first of four events, which include:
- April 11th: Local Spotlight
- May 16th: Workshop Day
- June 13th: International Spotlight
- July 18th: Festival Day
Events are streamed live on YouTube.
Chee thinks that the online platform offers some advantages.
“One of the benefits of going virtual is we get to zoom in on hands for teaching so it almost becomes more intimate being able to feel like you’re sitting front row when you’re watching Jake (Shimabukuro) play instead of in the cheap seats 100 yards back,” Chee said.
All events are completely free to the public.
