Kauai Ukulele Festival brings workshops, live music to Kukui Grove Center

Kauaʻi’s ukulele community takes over Kukui Grove Center this weekend with free workshops Saturday at AG ʻUkulele Academy and a full festival Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., turning the Līhuʻe shopping center into both a classroom and a stage.

The Saturday sessions are limited to 30 participants each, and preregistration is encouraged for the free community classes. One of the featured instructors is Aldrine Guerrero, an award-winning musician, ʻukulele player, music teacher and head instructor at AG ʻUkulele Academy, who will lead a beginner-friendly class that starts with tuning, holding technique, basic chording, strumming, rhythm, timing and the first Hawaiian song.

Another workshop will be taught by Willsie Scott of Sugar Mill Sound, with a focus on recording the ʻukulele from home demos to studio sessions. His session is built around practical tools many island musicians actually use, including microphones, pickups, smartphones, handheld recorders and digital audio workstations. A separate baritone ʻukulele workshop with Kimo Hussey is also on the schedule.

Sunday’s festival centers the performers who keep Kauaʻi’s ʻukulele culture moving through schools, neighborhoods and family groups. The lineup includes the Kapaʻa Middle School ʻUkulele Band, The Hanalei Strings ʻOhana, the Poipu/Southshore/Westside ʻUkulele Ohana and the Kōloa Neighborhood Center Kūpuna Group, followed by Aldrine Guerrero and Aaron Nakamura with Fingahs.

The event is more than a performance stop. Organizers have built in luthiers, community information booths, vendors selling ʻukulele-themed merchandise, a silent auction and a Hawaiian cultural activities zone with a short Hawaiian-language introduction and kapala stamping. Hanalei Strings will be onsite with Kala brand ʻukulele, giving attendees a chance to see instruments and builders up close rather than only hearing them onstage.

Kukui Grove Center has hosted the island’s annual festival since 2001, making the mall a familiar gathering point for school groups, adult ensembles and visiting artists. The 2026 event is produced in partnership with the Kala Foundation and supported by a grant from the County of Kauaʻi, with additional backing from Hawaiʻi Tourism through the Community Enrichment Program, The Kanikapila Project, Kukui Grove Center, AG ʻUkulele Academy, Kala Brand and Special Events Hawaiʻi.

For Kauaʻi, the weekend is not just a showcase of music. It is a working example of how teaching, performance, local business and cultural transmission still overlap on an island where the next generation often learns the songs, the language and the instrument in the same place.