Big move for North Tyneside Ukulele Festival
If you can’t resist a ukulele, the best place to be on two red letter November days is North Shields.
The town’s burgeoning Cultural Quarter has nabbed the North Tyneside Ukelele Festival – or at least two thirds of it.
The first two days of the festival, November 8 and 9, will be aiming to raise the roof at the beautifully refurbished Exchange 1856 on Howard Street.
The third and final day, November 10, is scheduled for The Globe, the music venue near Newcastle’s Utilita Arena.
This is the fifth iteration of the festival which was established in 2018 by Bay Uke, the community music group based in Cullercoats which has an 80-strong membership of ukulele players.
A grant from the North Shields Cultural Quarter projects and events fund enabled the festival to be prised away from Cullercoats where it took place last year.
The festival features international acts, workshops on ukulele techniques, open mic slots, singalongs and retail stands.
Sarah Timney, the organiser, said: “The ukulele community is big in the UK. Our festival is for anyone who likes ukulele, an instrument that brings a lot of smiles to a lot of faces.
“This is our first time in North Shields and our first time at the Exchange. We can’t wait.
“The Festival in 2023 at Cullercoats Crescent Club was really good, but it was as far as we could go without funding. This year we are at a whole different level.
“The funding from North Shields Cultural Quarter has made all the difference - the venue, the acts we have been able to get in, the overall quality.
“This year it has everything you would expect to find at a much bigger festival.
“We have more than 150 people coming on the Friday and Saturday and there’s so much to do.”
Dame Norma Redfearn, elected mayor of North Tyneside, said: “The ukulele festival is a fantastic North Tyneside community event that brings people a lot of enjoyment.
“It is great to see it being staged at the newly-refurbished Exchange 1856 theatre with support from North Shields Cultural Quarter.
“It will bring people from far and wide into the town centre, supporting the local economy and helping to put North Shields on the map as a thriving arts and culture destination.”
See here for tickets.