2009 Ukulele Festival in Kapiolani Park (Date + Photos)

[Kathie Fry]

The 39th Annual Ukulele Festival of Hawaii will take place on Sunday, July 19, 2009 from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m in the Kapiolani Park Bandstand on the Diamond Head end of Waikiki. As of this writing the artists to be featured in 2009 have not yet been announced, but some of the most famous Hawaiian ukulele musicians and singers in the world performed at the 2008 festival including Herb Ohta Sr. (Ohta-san), Kelly Boy Delima, Michael Keale, Paula Fuga, Bryan Tolentino, Canadian James Hill (who blew everybody away by showing what he could do with a ukulele and a pair of chopsticks), a 700+ player ukulele band, and many many others. For more information visit the official 2009 Ukulele Festival of Hawaii Web site.

I am still in the process of creating a photo gallery with my pictures of the 2008 festival but here are a few of my favorite photos of the event and its organizers:

ROY SAKUMA PERFORMING WITH OHTA-SAN IN 2008:



2008 BOOGIE GROUP UKULELE BAND MARCHING IN:



EVENT FOUNDER ROY SAKUMA AT THE 2008 FESTIVAL:



EVENT CO-FOUNDER KATHY SAKUMA AT THE 2008 FESTIVAL:



2008 MASTER OF CEREMONIES DANNY KALEIKINI:



This is another one of those Hawaii events I never want to miss!

- Kathie

PS: I will have the rest of my 2008 Ukulele Festival photos up on the Web soon. Watch for an announcement here.

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