SHOW PREVIEW

Ukulele Fest in the District

Friday-Saturday, April 14-15 Various venues in downtown Clearwater tampabayukulele.com

But perhaps the most popular feature of TBUS’s Ukulele Festival in the District is the workshops. The free beginner lessons will be held on Saturday from 12:30 p.m.2:30 p.m. at the Clearwater Building Reception Center. Ukuleles and a complimentary three chord songbook are provided and because of this course’s popularity last year, interested players are encouraged to book in advance.

Today, the most active ukulele groups are in Dunedin, but uke meetups pop up all over and are a critical part of a Tampa Bay uke player’s social life. And one of the biggest social events of the year is right around the corner on April 14-15, when TBUS hosts its second annual Ukulele Festival in the downtown district of Clearwater. Last year, the festival drew around 3,000 people; Wilde said that’s the highest turnout for a ukulele festival in the country.

The festival kicks off on Friday night.

Beloff will teach the “Songwriting for Songwriters Workshop” on Friday evening and the advanced beginner-intermediate workshop on Saturday afternoon. The songwriting session will run from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. and will include lessons on structure, rhyme, title placement and technique. Beloff will also offer song critique for the songwriters in attendance. The advanced beginner-intermediate session will introduce more chords, techniques and performance skills in popular music.

At 3 p.m., Kirk Jones will instruct students to play Van Morrison’s “Moondance” using just one finger in a workshop called, “The Easiest Barre Chord Song in the World”. Jones will also introduce students to the neck of the ukulele and teach them to play Barre chords, which are made by pressing down on more than one string and tend to be difficult.

Throughout the festival, the 400,500 and 600 blocks of Cleveland Street will be alive with the sound of ukes, vendors and local restaurants. The Downtown District Board and the City of Clearwater help to fund festivals such as the District’s Ukulele in order to bring more life and money into downtown Clearwater. Kala Brand Ukuleles; Replay Guitar; Three Chord Bourbon; The Missing Piece; Stroll Harbor Bluffs and the ever popular maker of the festival’s signature aqua t-shirts Casatera Tequila Seltzer are also sponsors of the festival.

So if your fingers are free next weekend, head on down to the festival. If you learn three chords you’ll be able to play 1,000 songs and even if you don’t strike a chord, you’ll get your bright aqua ukulele festival meets tequila seltzer t-shirt which seems to be as popular in Tampa Bay as the ukulele itself.