Ukulele festival runs for 2 weeks at Fort Worden

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Centrum presents the third annual Port Townsend Ukulele Festival, led by artistic director Marianne Brogan, Oct. 7-11 and 14-18, with concert performances on two Saturdays, Oct. 10 and 17.

“We’re all thrilled with the immediate success of Centrum’s ‘uke’ festival,” said Peter McCracken, Centrum’s program manager for the ukulele workshop. “We have 230 participants confirmed for this year’s events, with room for 20 more in our added second week.”

Centrum’s workshop was started in 2013, following the end of a similar endeavor for many years in Portland, Oregon.

“It’s been such a joy to bring this spirited community together,” said McCracken. “They fit right in in Port Townsend!”

The ukulele has gone from being an exotic trend to the embodiment of kitsch since it was developed in Hawaii 125 years ago, but is currently enjoying a global revival. This most recent ukulele renaissance seems only to be gaining momentum as artists such as Del Rey, Aaron Keim, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, some of Centrum’s guest instructors, reconnect audiences with this versatile diminutive instrument.

“The ukulele workshop has been sold out for the past two years,” said Robert Birman, Centrum’s executive director. “We’ve been fortunate to tap into a meteoric rise of interest in this instrument, and are lucky to operate in a community that already has such a longstanding devotion and affection for the ukulele. What I love best about this workshop is that the instrument can fit in with any musical style or tradition. It simply is on the most versatile instruments, along with the human voice.”

In an effort to accommodate participant demand, Centrum is offering two Port Townsend ukulele workshops this year. Week one runs Oct. 7-11, and week two is Oct. 14-18. Participants can expect four nights and three days of intense fun, ukulele instruction and merry music making with some of the finest ukulele instructors and players working today.

Each workshop culminates in a "Bonanza" concert. Tickets are $20. The first is at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at Wheeler Theater. Performers include Del Rey, Brook Adams, Casey MacGill, Francis Doo, The Canote Brothers, Jim D’Ville, Stu Fuchs, Heidi Swedberg, Daniel Ward, Lil’ Rev and Mark Nelson.

The second Ukulele Bonanza takes place at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 17 at Wheeler Theater. Performers include Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee, Gerald Ross, Joel Eckhaus, Ralph Shaw, Jason Arimoto, Nani Edgar, Stu Fuchs, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, Del Rey and Aaron Keim.

For tickets and information, call 800-746-1982 or visit centrum.org.