The annual International ʻUkulele Festival of Hawaiʻi is celebrating its 15th year showcasing the rich history of the instrument. It's scheduled for July 27 at Kapiʻolani Park.
Hawaiʻi State Archivist Adam Jansen talked with The Conversation about the global reach of the ʻukulele and the annual festival.
The ʻukulele was introduced to Hawaiʻi back in 1879 by Portuguese immigrants.
The Hawaiʻi State Archives works at preserving vintage instruments, including the ʻukulele.
The agency plans to have 10 vintage instruments with their original gut strings for the public to play at the festival. Natural gut strings are made from animal intestines.
The public is encouraged to arrive early, as people will be allowed to sign up for 10-minute slots to try out the instruments.
"It's an interesting experience for people who've never actually played these instruments with the original gut strings," Jansen said.
Along with allowing the public to try out some vintage instruments, the agency is coordinating an education zone at the festival. The zone will showcase various early 20th-century music materials the State Archives has obtained for a project called the "Hawaiian Music Archives."
"We're now in the process of starting to digitize all of that historic sheet music, all of the Edison cylinders, the Edison diamond discs, the old 78 shellac records," Jansen said. "And we want to put anything out of copyright online so that everybody has access to it all over the world because we think that these songs have a lot to teach us today still, because the moʻolelo contained in those songs are very powerful."
The Hawaiʻi State Archives is also looking for volunteers willing to work four or more hours at the festival. If people are interested, they can email musicarchives@hawaii.gov for more information.
The festival is free for all and starts at 9:30 a.m. For more information click here.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 15, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
