It’s been way too long, but Ukulele Festivals are finally back and I am starting the season off with “Berliner Ukulele Festival“. This festival usually took place on the last weekend of October. So having a summer edition sounded intriguing. They also announced that it would take place at the outdoor stage at UFA Fabrik – even more exciting. Look at this amazing venue:
Some things do however stay the same. For instance, that the festival starts on Friday with a legendary open mic. It was filled with familiar faces from former festivals, online stages and social media. Our moderator for the night was the fabulous Sissy Chanson – it really can’t get any better than a drag queen with ukulele, right?
The sense of community was back instantly that evening – I love that about the ukulele. So after the open-mic we stayed around for quite some time, to catch up, jam and enjoy ourselves.
I know you lovelies are used to very detailed reports about festivals with lots of pictures – I am sorry if this is what you were looking for here today, but I am afraid I can’t deliver that right now. You might have noticed that I am also not very active on social media right now – I try to live in the moment, relax and not stress myself with creating content. So please bear with me.
Disclaimer
Saturday and Sunday
My Saturday started out very chilled. I only booked one workshop a day (remember – no stress, take it easy) so I took some time before heading to the festival to relax in a park and practice some of my songs for my upcoming performance at UFO Festival (hope to see some of you there).
My workshop for Saturday was hosted by the lovely Sage Harrington. No ukulele required because it was all about singing. We started out with some great warm-up excercises for our voices (I really needed this) and then we tried out our jazzy-singing-voices. It was relaxing and fun – would definitely recommend :). Sorry, forgot to take a pic.
My Sunday Workshop was with Elisabeth Pfeiffer about 16th rhythms – yes, my right hand is stupid, but turns out, my left hand isn’t that bright either. But we’ll get there ;). Again, no picture but you can see both Sage and Elisabeth in the slideshow below.
During the weekend I actually wanted to play some open mics – but it was so nice to just sit with people, talk and have fun, that it just didn’t happen.
Saturday and Sunday evening concerts were great. I love how diverse the program was – music wise but also when it comes to the artists themselves. Sabina Saracevic did a great job in putting this together (again) – thanks for that.
Here’s a list of artists that performed this weekend – please check them out, it was a pleasure listening to each and every one of them.
- Halau Hula Makahikina & die Kokua Girls
- Peter Moss
- Ukus in Fabula
- Iso Herquist
- Scott & Lila
- Elisabeth Pfeiffer
- The Low Gs
- Ukulele Alley Cats
- Moon Berries
- The Ukuleleaves
- Jan Haasler
- Mimi Mitina
- Ukulele Orchester Pankow
Impressions from Saturday
Impressions from Sunday
Notice: Someone asked me why I always sit so far behind (which also reflects in my pictures): First of all I find it very rude when people in the front rows get up to take pictures and second I don’t feel very comfortable sitting somewhere inside the crowd (not only due to Covid, I actually never have), so I try to either sit in the back or somewhere at the side.
Thank you
It was a magical weekend. Thanks to everyone who was there and made it happen – old friends, new friends and everyone in between. I had the best time and I can’t wait to see you all again soon.
And I want to end this with a quote from a new friend:
This feels like family. The good kind.
@_nick_cake_
xoxo Nikky
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