Ukes go Bere is a weekend festival suitable for complete beginners and accomplished ukulele players. The festival included drumming, vocal and Ukulele workshops, brunchelle, KaraUke evenings, and a live, free performance open to the public. Ukes Go Bere is a unique opportunity to play with uke-minded players together in this glorious setting on Bere Island. Ukulele players travelled from Carlow, Limerick, Cobh and Kerry to take part in the workshops and get the opportunity to form a pop-up group and perform for an audience. The ethos of the weekend is ‘Uke Can Too’, where the programme is designed to be accessible to all levels and abilities, encouraging those with limited experience to perform alongside more accomplished players. This year the scope of the weekend was extended to include a drumming workshop with the local primary school children who performed 2 songs for the public and workshop places and Ukulele’s for two island residents.

The weekend was organised by Dr. Eva McMullan assisted by Andrew Moran.

Dr. Eva McMullan Glossop Eva is co-director and founding member of a group called the Ukuladies. She is currently the musical director of the University College Cork Choir and has collaborated with a number of renowned performers and musicians such as, Brian Kennedy, Iarla O’Lionaird, and John Spillane. Renowned for her enthusiastic presentations, Eva led the vocal work shop and collaborated on the final performance.

Andrew Moran B.mus, M.Phil is the co-director of the Ukuladies since 2015. He is a professional musician and teacher with a wealth of experience teaching ukulele to both adults and children. Andrew has led his ukulele groups to sell out performances, most recently with Paul Linehan of the Frank n’ Walters. Andrew led the Ukulele workshop this weekend and co-ordinated the final performance