Czech Ukulele Festival | Homepage

The 9th Czech Ukulele Festival will take place, yes it will!

We did manage to hold the festival in 2020, but on a much smaller scale and without the great variationwhich we usually achive by inviting many performers from around the world.

The 2021 festival will be concentrating on a colourful, cheerfull and accessible event, as everyone has hade a difficult and challenging 2020, we want to give everone something to smile about, to laugh and to dance while listening to great and varied music..

As regular festival goers know, we normály have a Friday day trip. This year we had planned a repeat visit to Kutná Hora, however, we have decided to cancel the day trip this year, but 2022 will be back on.

On Saturday and Sunday the festival is held in the village of Únětice u Prahy, where there will be a full program of worskhops and concerts available for the attendees. Workshops will range from children´s and beginners to master classes of advanced techniques.

Since the first festival in August 2013, the Czech Ukulele festival has built a reputation of being the most inclusive and open festival of its kind in Europe, and arguably the most enjoyable in the world. We have striven to present performers and ideas from as many parts of the world as possible and represent a wide range of age and social groups, with a special interest in promoting young players and encouraging children to play.

Since the first festival in August 2013, the Czech Ukulele festival has built a reputation of being the most inclusive and open festival of its kind in Europe, and arguably the most enjoyable in the world. We have striven to present performers and ideas from as many parts of the world as possible and represent a wide range of age and social groups, with a special interest in promoting young players and encouraging children to play.

In 2021 we will be presenting as wide a range of genrees as possible, including the popular Czech rapper Xindle X, the Chris Uff Trio , and many others.

To creat a fantastic carnival atmosphere the crircus style performers will headline on the Sunday night: Barada Street and Elvis on Stilts..

The ukulele developed from Portuguese instruments, and with the help of the poutuguese cultural centre we welcome a performance by Raiz Lusa from Portugal, who plays traditional Portuguese instruments.

Program & performers

Saturday 24 / 7 / 2020

ZŠ Járy Cimrmana (CZ)

Dani Usero (SK)

Ukeleaves (DE)

Ukulele Simon (UK)

Chris Uff Trio (UK)

Amelia Coburn (UK)

Prague Ukuele Band (ČR)

DMU (P)

Sunday 25 / 7 / 2021

Jiné Metro (ČR)

Ukulelezaza (B)

Raiz Luisa (PT)

U Kůže (ČR)

Flight Crew

Raffle

Xindle X (ČR)

Barada Street (EU)

+ Ukulele Elvis (Memphis)

Workshops (in preparation)

Please note, that apart from the absolute beginners workshops, you will be expected to bring your own instrument to play at the workshops.

Block 1

1. ANDREAS DAVID – Hawaii meets Ireland

The Hawaiian Triplet Strum and how to play jigs with it. The German uke mistro will show you how to combine two traditional forms of music to create and explore new rythms.
Intermediate: 275,- CZK (In English)

2. Frank De Kleer – Latin and Gipsy strums

In the workshops Frank and Miguel focus on the right hand. With a few Spanish, Latin and Gypsystyle strums, you can give your songs a whole new and fresh sound. They approach the uke more as a percussion instrument than a stringed instrument.
Intermediate: 275,- CZK (In English)

3. Ondřej Šárek – Two times Antonín Dvořák

We learn two of the most famous compositions of Antonín Dvořák. Aria Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (original record is available here) and Largo ze symfonie č. 9 „Z Nového světa“ (originální nahrávka is available here). We will learn the melody and accompiament so to sound close to the original.
Advanced beginners and Intermediate: 275,- CZK (In English)

Block 2

1. MARCELA BROŽOVÁ – Absolutní začátečníci pro dospělé i děti

Take the first steps to play the ukulele with Marcela. There will be some ukuleles available to borrow for this workshop.
Absolute beginners: 225,- CZK (In Czech and English)

2. Silke Breidbach z Lucky Leles – Zpěv při hře na ukulele

How to do it right: Singing, Breathing, Pose and Mindset while playing the Ukulele!
Basic singing skills and easy pose hacks to have a better performance.
Beginner to advanced in English: 275 CZK (In English)

3. Torsten Puls z Lucky Leles – Specifika ukulele basy

More than any other instrument, the bass is designed to be played with others in the band. The topic of the workshop will be the specifics of ukulele bass and the importance of playing with others before playing only the "right" notes. We will deal with the value of the pause and the length of the notes, as well as useful rhythmic patterns. You may be surprised that there are far fewer "bad" notes in the bass lines than you expected.
Begginer to advanced: 275,- CZK (In English)

Songbook 2020

Download the Songbook

Tickets (in preparation)

Contact Us

Festival director

Ben Anderson

ukefest@email.cz
+420 602 267 684

Press & marketing

Tereza Novotná

novot.terka@email.cz
+420 721 315 327

ICT and production

Dan Šilhavý

ukulele@dansilhavy.eu
+420 608 731 222

The festival happens every year in Únětice village close to Prague. Únětickém pivovaru. The festival is being run under the auspices of the Society for the Renewal of Únětice Culture, a non-profit organisation, reg No. 68378939.

You can reach us also via Facebook..

How to get to the festival

Autem

Únětice is situated just outside of Prague and is a 15 minute drive from the airport.. If you are arriving by car from Prague, we recommend that you drive via Roztoky or Suchdol. From the airport or highway, we recommend to reach Únětice from the North. On the upper, northern side of Únětice there is plenty of available parking space, near the Sokolovna pub and in the housing development Svaty Jan above the pub. Please be considerate to the residents and do not block access to houses and garages.

Public transport

Public transport in Prague is usually easy and efficient.

Local bus timetable is available here..

The last bus from Únětice to Dejvická metro station leaves at 23.29. Make sure you don't miss it!

On the festival days, we will have extra public transport links available, especially the last buses to Horoměřice and Prague. If you are in accommodation in Suchdol, you can catch a 147 or 107 bus towards Prague and get off at Podbaba where you can catch the 355 to Horoměřice.

From Prague there is a bus line 355 going to Únětice.
Nam of that bus station is Horoměřická.

Tickets

When travelling in Prague, you usually choose between 30 minutes ticket for 24 CZK and 90 minutes ticket for 32 CZK. You can buy tickets in all metro stations. Únětice are just outside of Prague and these tickets are not sufficient. You have basically two possibilities:

→ Buy a combined ticket for Prague and Únětice valid for 90 minutes for 40 CZK (recommended), or
→ With a valid Prague ticket, pay additional surcharge 12 CZK to the bus driver. Be careful about the ticket validity. The bus drive from Dejvická to Únětice takes approx. 22 minutes.

Keep your tickets with you as the fines are nasty.

Taxi

It is not advisable to catch a taxi on the street, call one, I normally use AAA taxis, their dispatching no. is: 14014 and they speak English. Companies such as Uber and Bolt work quite well in and around Prague. 14014.

Emergency numbers

Fire - 150
Medical Emergency (Ambulance/First Aid) - 155
Prague City Police - 156
Police - 158

Accommodation

There is limited accommodation available directly in the village, and most is reserved for the performers.

Camping

There will be a small basic camp site available in a garden close to the festival site, the camp site has a port-a-loo and a wash station but no showers. The exact location will be shown on the festival map.

Hotel Modrá Stodola

We have agreed excellent terms for festival goers at the Hotel Modrá Stodola. Modrá stodola v Horoměřicích. This village is just 2 km from where the festival takes place in Únětice and there is a direct bus link.

Penzion U Nováků

We can also recommend Penzion U Novákůover the hill in Roztoky. Unfortunatelly no direct bus, but a 40 minute walk from the festival or a short car ride.

Other local hotels:
Hotel Carl Inn – Suchdol
Pension Jasoň – Velké Přílepy

Budget variant

You can stay in the Czech University of Life Sciences Halls of Residence..
Of course, if you want to combine the festival with a stay in the beautiful city of Prague, there are hundreds of hotels throughout the city and the festival site is easily accessible by public transport. You can also choose Airbnb.

Snapshots from 2020 festival

Festival photo archive

News & posts

April 27, 2019

Photoreport 2019

Dear UKE Friends, via this official PHOTOREPORT done by Andrea Vasakova Photography you can refresh your memories how awesome was....

Sponsors

Media partners

Poděkování sponzorům

Událost, jakou je Český ukulele festival, by nebylo možné pořádat bez pomoci sponzorů a partnerů. Jsme nesmírně vděční za jakýkoliv druh pomoci, ať už se jedná o finanční podporu, dar do tomboly, nebo podání pomocné ruky při přípravách festivalu. thank you.!

Main sponsors

Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic

Jsme hrdí, že jsme opět získali podporu Ministerstva kultury České republiky.

The Central Bohemian region

The administration the Central Bohemian Region has elected to partially financially support the festival

Kala Brand Music Co.

The Kala ukulele company from the USA through their distributor Warwick GmbH & Co. Music Equipment KG, has donated financial support for the 6th year in a row to encourage new players.

Únětický Pivovar – Brewery

The brewery has enthusiastically served as the host for the festival and also contributes food and drink for the performers, and have supported the project since its inception.

U Parlamentu

We would like to thank the owners of the restaurant U Parlamentu in Kaprova street, Prague 1 for their financial support for the third year running. When in the centre, a good place for a beer and a meal.

Mr Nick Kirke

We would like to thank Nick for his support for the first festival, without which it would not have been possible. He understood the true meaning of cultural support, a big heart and pure philanthropy.

Gendai

This local company headed by Mr. Jan Racz has provided every festival with the stage gantry and lighting free of charge.

The Village of Únětice

We would like to thank the local authority for their support (and in some cases tolerance) of the project.

Aquila Corde

For the fourth year, our Italian friends will donate strings and an instrument to the raffle.

Mercatino dell´ Ukulele

Our Italian friends have for the fourth time donated two instruments to the festival raffle.

Ukeshop.cz

The only specialist ukulele outlet in the country has donated a couple of instruments to the raffle.

Risa Musical Instruments

Rick Sauer from Risa in Germany will be donating a couple of his Koki´o ukulelel to the raffle.

Brüko Ukuleles

Každoročně nám německý výrobce ukulelí daruje do tomboly ručně vyráběné ukulele.

Flight Ukuleles

Naši slovinští přátelé darovali pár ukulelí do tomboly.

Society for the Renewal of Únětice Culture

The local village cultural society is the umbrella association for the event.

Expats.cz and Howlings company

We truly thank Howlings company for the needed marketing support of the festival on the server Expats.cz.

Modrá Stodola

Our neighbours in the village of Horoměřice have supported the festival by giving favourable rates to players and the festival goers.