Interview w/ Utah Uke Fest organizer Ryan Taylor

The 2013 Utah Uke Fest is just a couple weeks away (June 15th)!  This year's festival features performances and workshops with Craig Chee, Daniel Hulbert, Micheal Stone, and others.  There will also be open mics and plenty of giveaways.  We're proud to be a donating sponsor once again this year!  You can find more information about the festival at www.UkulelePlay.com

Festival organizer, Ryan Taylor was kind enough to sit down and tell me a little bit more about the Utah Uke Fest.  I hope that you enjoy the interview!

2013 Ukulele Festivals

Boy, there's a lot of ukulele festivals out there!  Barry Maz of www.gotaukulele.com has a fantastic resource on his site for finding one near you this year!  Click here to check out his calendar of 2013 Ukulele Festivals.  You can also submit one if it's not on the list.

Mighty MO Ukulele Festival - a ukulele vacation!

When you think about ukulele hotspots in the United States, Missouri probably doesn't come to mind.  Well, Jerry and Janelle Hoffman are working hard to put Missouri on the ukulele map.

Jerry just so happens to be the owner and luthier of Boat Paddle Ukuleles (and let me tell you, he is creating some SWEET ukes).  Back in 2011, he and Janelle decided to organize the first ukulele festival that the state had ever seen, and so was born the Mighty MO Ukulele Festival.  This year, they are thrilled to be putting on the 3rd annual Mighty MO Uke Fest in peaceful New Haven, Missouri (just down the road from Boat Paddle Ukuleles).  The Cedar Creek Conference Center will play host to this year's festival which is taking place July 11th-14th.  You can make plans to join them and get registered here.

Janelle, MMUF event coordinator, told me a little bit about how it all began.