In April, 2004, Mike journeyed to the wilds of Santa Cruz, California, for three days of ukulele madness. Over 600 uke enthusiasts came together to exchange greetings and ideas. Some of the biggest names on the ukulele world were there to perform and give workshops. Great fun!

Ninety-six year old Bill Tapia was inducted into the Ukulele Players Hall of Fame. He's been around almost as long as the uke itself.

Lyle Ritz is best known as an A-list studio bassist, but he is also arguably the best jazz ukulele player, ever!

Fred Fallin is a great entertainer, with lots of stories about ukulele history.

Here's Mike with Richard Hoover, of the Santa Cruz Guitar company.

It wasn't at Ukefest, but here is Dan Erlewine, Stewart-McDonald's repair guru, checking out one of my ukes. He liked it!