I don't remember how I first learned about Play Your Ukulele Day but I'll never forget the first one I celebrated. It was 2019 and I had booked the Saskatoon Ukulele Players in at the Saskatoon Farmers Market when they were still located on Avenue B. A blizzard was raging that Saturday but we came out anyway. In fact, I think there were more ukuleles than customers that day. The vendors were super appreciative to have some great live music. Seriously, how does one not smile the moment they see a ukulele?

The year after, I thought we should try a different location so I contacted a Market Mall. When they insisted on us having expensive insurance, I looked elsewhere and contacted the Saskatoon Farmers Market again. It's a long story but Market Mall ended up stealing our event. We had quite a few of our people come to the Farmers Market but the whole thing left such a bad taste in my mouth that I had to step away from the group and the ukulele for a couple of months. 

Then, the pandemic came to our door. Everything moved online and an amazing community grew up around the ukulele. So when Play Your Ukulele Day came around again, it was so wonderful. Meeting people from around the world who also loved this little instrument and playing with them was incredible. But when people abandoned protecting themselves and others from the plague for brunch, it was difficult for me to continue our little group. 

This year is my first Ukulele Day on my own and I was lucky enough to spend it with one of my ukulele students. We're about to embark on a new teaching adventure so our 2024 so far has been a lot of reminiscing and figuring out what direction to go next. I did a quick video of us playing Sweet Caroline which we played a year and a half ago while busking. I think we did pretty good considering how long it's been since we last played it! Enjoy!