Swedish Strummers
Hawaii’s bid Saturday to set a world record for the largest ukulele ensemble performance failed…but the more than 1200 uke enthusiasts who attended had fun anyway.
Both professional and amateur uke players of all ages got together at the Blaisdell Arena. To break the record, they needed more than 1,547 strummers playing together for five minutes.
Sweden now holds the world record, set in 2011. Hawaii tried once before, last October, to break the record.
At Saturday night’s attempt, the crowd played a song composed for the event by ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabakuro. Shimabakuro was on hand, along with many of his professional musician friends, to encourage the crowd along.
There was a representative from the Guiness Book of World Records to confirm the event. He said there were 1,296 ukulele players in attendance.
Many participants said they’re ready to try again. The web site for the event is www.gofordarecord.org
