Ukuleles and the eclectic folk that love to play them will gather at Newcastle City Hall in October for the fourth biennial Newkulele Festival.
There will be workshops, community group performances, a school program, two days of free festival performances and two ticketed evening performances. Tickets go on sale on August 1 through Ticketek and at newkulelefestival.com.
The festival has come a long way since it kicked off in 2012 under a circus tent on the grounds of the Croatian Club at Wickham. Canadian James Hill was the festival’s first international artist, and he enjoyed his 2014 experience at Newcastle Jockey Club that he returned in 2016 with the likes of Anne Janelle, Mark Nelson, Ukulollo, Peter Moss and The Nukes.
This year’s line-up at the new inner-city venue includes Canadian Manitoba Hal and Hawaiian-based internet sensations Honika & Azita. As for the home-grown talent, there’s The Ukulele Death Squad who sold out shows at the 2017 Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals; Newcastle’s own Ukastle Ukestra; Lucy Wise; The Loveys; Tyrone and Lesley; The Montgomery Brothers and The Coconut Kids, to name a few.
Also, in the week leading up to the festival the Australian Guitar Making School at Wallsend is running a course for people who would like to build their own tenor ukulele but have basic or no woodworking skills.
