In 2018, our festival was awarded the Epic Award for England & on the festival weekend, a Lieutenant of the Queen came along to formally present us with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Both of those prizes meant a lot to our team of volunteers who run the festival as each was awarded to recognise the impact our work has in the community.
True originals, inspiring performers and genuinely new experiences
Our 2018 Festival Was Truly Epic!

We brought the world’s best, most exciting and newest ukulele players to you. We also supported the debut of Andy Eastwood’s SpaceScape (an original piece for ukulele & string quartet).

Our workshops were unparalleled in their breadth & depth. Alongside the familiar ukulele workshops was a range of new & novel ones including photography, clowning and more. Folks learned new tricks, refined skills, and tried new things.

There were loads of new things to participate in like our Meet-and-Greets & Petey Mac’s breakfast singalong. There were also festival favourites (including Mim’s Stage and the Late Night Cabaret).
The Festival in a Nutshell:
New for this year, we introduced workshops and experiences covering all things ukulele and other related things like photography, performance, comedy and more.
Thursday
Pre-festival party (with an open mic, singalong, a bit of a jam & more).
Friday Evening
from 5pm – There are workshops, performances and jams at venues across town.
Saturday (all day & night)
from morning until late – World-class performances on 5 different stages, a wide range of workshops including loads of new sessions, open-mics, jams and loads more.
Sunday (all day)
from morning until teatime – Even more great performances, workshops, open-mics and jams. Things wrap up around 5pm because we know folks need to get home on Sunday evening..