Wukulele - South Coast International Ukulele Festival

A weekend of international ukulele virtuosi with PRSF school commission, main stage, fringe, workshops and special guests

Wukulele Festival presents a weekend of extraordinary talents from across the world, including Bob Brozman (USA), Richard Durrant (UK), Ukulelezaza (Belgium), Yan Yalego (France) and Sophie Madeleine (UK). All outstanding performers and all playing ukuleles in Worthing, West Sussex from 8th - 10th October 2010.

As well as the main stage performances, Wukulele Festival has commissioned songwriter Sean O'Hagan (of The High Llamas and Stereolab fame) to write a special new work for Sixty Ukuleles and Sixty Schoolchildren. Then there are workshops for every level of player and an extensive fringe is planned with special guests, promising a weekend of “uke” activity with something for everyone.

By now everybody's aware of the incredible – and ever-increasing - popularity of the ukulele. It's an instrument that anyone, it seems, can pick up and learn for fun. Ukulele jams have sprung up all over the country, providing homespun entertainment for a generation of DIY enthusiasts. Now everyone seems to be playing a ukulele – from tv's Harry Hill to Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones. And everyone's an enthusiast, from 6 Music's Phill Jupitus to The Idler's Tom Hodgkinson. What's not so obvious is that in the hands of a virtuoso, the instrument can produce spellbinding and truly beautiful music. With the Wukulele Festival, the British ukulele scene comes of age.

Festival producer Daniela Gargiulo says, “The festival brings together a real variety of performers, solo and in groups, from newcomers like pop trio The Half Sisters to world music legends like Bob Brozman. All have in common a love for the instrument and a desire to make great music with it – music as extraordinary, diverse and lyrical as one can possibly imagine. It's as simple as that.”

It's all taking place in the seaside town of Worthing, West Sussex - home to daredevil kite-surfers, the crazy annual “Birdman” competition and the Wukulele Jam, the south coast's most successful ukulele session which has now spawned this ambitious inaugural Festival. “Worthing,” says Daniela again, “is the perfect place for this nîche music spectacular – charming, upbeat, colourful... a town with a real sense of human scale and a character all of its own.”

WUKULELE FESTIVAL is held 8th - 10th October 2010 in Worthing, West Sussex
Website: www.wukulelefestival.com

LINE UP:
Friday 8 October: Sean O'Hagan: Music for Sixty Ukuleles and Sixty Schoolchildren. Performed by pupils of Whytemead First Primary School. Commission supported by PRS for Music.
Saturday 9 October: Bob Brozman (USA); Sophie Madeleine (UK); U.K.E. featuring Lionel K. Hubert (France); The Half Sisters (UK); Ukulelezaza (Belgium).
Sunday 10 October: Richard Durrant (UK); The Re-entrants (UK); Yan Yalego (France);
The Bobby McGees (UK); The Uke Box (Holland).

Press enquiries, email: info@audiocraft.org.uk