The first event of this year’s hotly anticipated Cairns Ukulele Festival gets underway this Friday, June 28 – the Uke Art Exhibition and Auction, featuring the works of dozens of artists who have all decorated a ukulele to help raise money for charity.

This year’s beneficiary is the Salvation Army, with the exhibition formally opening this Friday at 6pm at The Pier Shopping Centre in Cairns, with entertainment by Hawaiian ukulele star Craig Chee, the Montgomery Brothers and more!

The exhibition will run until July 12. People can place their final bids on the colourfully-decorated ukes on the closing night.

As part of the Uke Art Exhibition, each artist is given a ukulele and free rein to turn the instrument in a personal masterpiece. Artists never cease to amaze the audiences with their creativity and approach to this diminutive instrument, and this year’s exhibition is no exception! With works from emerging artists as well as established artists such as Roland Nancarrow and Greg Dwyer, the exhibition is sure to delight young and old.