Join us for the 45th Annual Harrison Festival of the Arts. We are excited to welcome everyone back to Harrison this year. For full details on the festival such as Schedule, Music Lineup, Children’s Day, the Artisan Market and more… continue on to the Homepage.
Time: Sunday, July 21st, 11:00pm-12:00pm
Location: Harrison Memorial Hall (290 Esplanade Ave.)
Cost: $2 at the door
Harrison Ukulele Gathering
Summer is ukulele season; come join enthusiastic locals. Bring a ukulele and good humour to our gathering. We’ll share beginner tips on how to play and gather, then dive in to play old favs and new-to-you tunes. Visit the Festival link or FB’s Harrison Ukulele Gathering to download the Harrison Festival of the Arts Ukulele Gathering Songbook.
This workshop is about giving others a feel for a typical ukulele gathering experience. The aim is to instill a love of the ukulele and the confidence to join others in music-making. Harrison Memorial Hall is on ‘front street’ at 290 Esplanade Ave, Harrison Hot Springs, across from the lagoon and beach. There is paid parking space although may be at a premium due to the Festival’s Art Market on the beach. There is a free parking area off Miami River Drive, a ten minute walk to the hall. We only have an hour together so we start at 11 am sharp.
I ask for volunteer helpers to come forward before the event. I like to encourage seasoned ukulele players to sit with each new player. Beginners ukulele players are welcomed to volunteer – you remember what it was like learning to play! Kindness, good humour and knowing a few beginner chords are prerequisites to support people as they learn how to strum. The chairs are set up below the stage in a circle. As workshops host, I greet people to ask who hasn’t played before. We spend the first few minutes of our hour together sharing three easy chords C G and F. We then go into jamming songs; participants around the circle are invited to select a song. We initially go from beginner with 2 or 3 chords to intermediate and beyond.
Stay tuned at Facebook’s Harrison Ukulele Gathering. If you are a leader of
a local ukulele group that meets, or would like to be contacted directly, let me know and I’ll email you. That’s it for a heads up on the Ukulele Gathering Workshop.
We’ve had loads of fun in past years; I imagine we are in for the same kind
of enjoyment in 2024! See you at the festival!
Earla Dawn Legault
To contact Earla or the Festival, please DM the Harrison Ukelele Gathering facebook group, or call the Harrison festival office at 604.796.3664 or info@harrisonfestival.com
- Ukulele Gathering Workshop Checklist:
- Harrison Festival of the Arts Ukulele Gathering Songbook 2023 online at https://issuu.com/harrisonfestival/docs/harrison_festival_ukulele_pdf_songbook_july_10_202
- Printed songbooks will be available at the workshop
- If you’d like to share new songs you’d like us to play, please bring 20 + extras
- Your music stand, or two if you have an extra
- Your uku (an extra ukulele if comfortable lending it for an hour)
- A parking plan – try to arrive1/2 hour early so to setting in. Free parking on a grassy field is located north of the Tourist Office, off Hot Springs Road, accessed from Miami River Drive.
- $2 donation at the door to help support the Harrison Festival of the Arts
