Archives: Ukuleles of Paradise

Chico News and Review reporter Toni Scott visited Ukuleles of Paradise in June to try her hand at playing ukulele. Her article highlights her experiences as someone who’s never played an instrument before—and how much fun she discovered with four strings! Read the article here.

Ukuleles of Paradise is spreading ukulele aloha around the Paradise community! That’s right, during the summer months we’re meeting at Paradise Community Memorial Park for our occasional jamming sessions. This gives us a bit of “public” exposure and it’s a lot of fun to play as the sun sets (don’t forget your mosquito repellent!) against […]

Who goes to Hayward (California) to play the ukulele? Thousands of us did on April 29—and if you weren’t there, you missed an event that’s as rich in Hawaiian culture as it is in four-string delights. Held at the Hayward Adult Learning Center, this year’s event was the 14th annual, making it the longest-running (and oldest!) ukulele festival on the mainland. This festival has a true ohana feel. While some of the out-of-the-auditorium jamming was definitely non-island oriented (Beatles, anyone? Petula Clark? John Denver?), the performers inside are members of the many Bay Area-based ukulele schools and clubs and their performance repertoire was almost entirely Hawaiian (including contemporary and hapa haole as well as some lovely old melodies that just made me sigh and want to collapse beneath a coconut palm).