In a bid to create even more playing opportunities for ukulele players, the festival invites ukulele players to be part of a new festival program component, the Ukulele Buskers Walk.

The festival has been able to secure four exclusive buskers locations along  Shields St in  the Cairns CBD between 25 and 28 August for approved ukulele buskers.

This will be a great opportunity for ukulele players of all ages to share the joy of ukulele with locals and tourists, bring life to the CBD, and get everyone into the spirit of the Cairns Ukulele Festival!

For more information and to apply, please follow this link. 

Are you arriving early in the festival week? Great! There’s lots to see and do!

Cairns is a wonderful base from where you can explore the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s oldest rainforest, the tropical Tablelands and more!

We’re pleased to announce the Australian Ukulele Teachers and Leaders Association development day held Thursday August 25th. This is a great opportunity for those who teach or lead groups around the country to share and learn from each other. Head over to our web site for further details and to register your interest.  

There are also two ukulele jam sessions:

Far North Ukes has a jam at the Trinity Beach Sports Club on Tuesday the morning of Tuesday the 23rd of August and the Holloways Ukulele Group has their regular Wednesday jam at Strait on the Beach at 6pm on the 24th.

If you’re still looking for accommodation, please consider our festival partners, Cairns Hilton and the Pacific Hotel. They are offering special deals for festival attendees. 

A reminder:

If you wish to dine at Mondo Restaurant and enjoy our Maton Songwriters on the Waterfront session held Thursday evening 25th of August at 5pm, please make sure you book early. Last year, the restaurant was fully booked and we’ve been informed bookings are already rolling in. Follow this link for more details. 

Thanks to the generous support of KoAloha Ukuleles, the festival is thrilled to introduce Kainoa Kamaka, a Hawaiian born and bred entertainer whose video of Johnny B. Goode on ukulele recently went viral on Facebook. Kainoa shall be performing traditional Hawaiian music during the world music dinner evening on Friday the 26th of August as well as plenty of other party music throughout the festival.

Kainoa has been an entertainer for over 20 years and credits his success to his parents. His mother is a talented hula dancer and father a gifted musician, a relationship that resulted in Kainoa’s entertainer instincts and on-stage charisma.  In 1993, Kainoa moved to the island of Kaua’i and started ‘Kainoa Ohana’, singing and playing the ‘ukulele with an amazing group of guys!  Kainoa Ohana soon became Kaua’i’s most popular band and had a cameo appearance in the 1998 Harrison Ford movie “Six Days, Seven Nights.” During a recent visit to Hawaii, Kainoa reconnected with his friend Greg Gabaylo who invited him to judge Johnny Kai’s “Brown Bags to Stardom” talent show contest along with other Hawai’i entertainers: Living Legend, Kimo Kahoano and Hawaiian Vocalist Kekoa Kane.  Each judge was asked to do one act and Kainoa performed his ‘Johnny B. Goode’ routine.  The performance was video recorded and shared on social media.  The video went viral and was shared on Stephanie Lum’s, Hawaii News Now anchor, social media page and on Hawaii local news.  This performance has led to a new relationship between Kainoa and the KoAloha ‘Ukulele family, an opportunity of which he is both excited and honoured to be a part of!

Yesterday, unfortunately our post did not include the booking link. Apologies for this.

On our web site there’s a page with the links to tickets currently on sale:

• Ukulele Mystery Tour
• Ports North Finale Concert

Please follow this link for bookings

While on our web site, please also check out the exciting list of performers announced so far. We will be announcing even more artists in weeks to come so check back regularly!