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The Nanaimo Ukulele festival began as a one day event in the summer of 2011 and was produced by Anna Lyman, a local ukulele and vocal teacher, who wanted to promote and support the growing interest in the ukulele in the Nanaimo area. What started as a one day affair has grown over the years to become a uke fest celebration attended by people from across Vancouver Island, mainland BC and other parts of North America.
Local ukulele enthusiasts and volunteers work to bring together ukulele performers and teachers from the Island and across Canada and the USA. Our goal is to create an event where we can come together to celebrate our love of the ukulele, meet with other “ukesters” and showcase the accomplished and talented ukulele players from across the continent.
I'll be the featured performer on the CAT Ferry between Yarmouth NS and Bar Harbour Maine USA.
Join me for my 57th birthday party at the Ship's Galley. Tickets $10/door Also live streamed on FACEBOOK.
Tampa Bay Ukulele Festival Virtual Session
(EDT, UTC-04) (EDT, UTC-04)
Workshop - Blues tips and tricks for beginners.
Do you have the blues? Are you trying to get your “mojo working” on your ukulele? Are hell hounds on your trail? Then you need to take this Tips and Tricks workshop! Manitoba Hal is an internationally recognized performer and purveyor of the blues on the ukulele. He will teach you a few tips to get the most from your ukulele.
• The Blues Shuffle Strum
• Creating Turnarounds
• Riff On Your Ukulele
This workshop is for the beginning uke player who has a familiarity with first position chords. We will be focusing on the keys of C and G using the C6 tuning (GCEA). Handouts are available upon request.
The Folk Music Ontario Conference is Canada’s largest annual conference devoted to the folk, roots, and traditional music community. The conference offers showcasing, professional development, and networking opportunities for artists and music industry professionals in Canada and the international Folk community, with customized programming for folks at any stage of their career, from emerging to export-ready.
The 2022 conference will take place in-person from October 13-16th, and hosted at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in London, Ontario.
“I went to see a ukulele concert last night. Manitoba Hal is a world class performer and entertainer. He has a definite blues influence and is probably the best ukulele player I will ever see perform live in my life. I thoroughly enjoyed the show.” - FB review of concert at The Nanaimo Ukulele Festival 2023
“What's all that sound; where is it comin' from?" "I never heard anything like that before!" and "You changed my whole perspective of a ukulele." :) ... just a few things I heard over lastnight's concert. All in attendance were quick to recognize the quality of this 'man and his ukuleles' performance, the tone and his expression (all of them) was outstanding! Manitoba Hal Brolund, you left us all in awe... and wanting more.” - Lavena Crocker - Tivertonian Playhouse
“Impossible indeed to imagine that this instrument has only four strings when one attends the concert of the Canadian Manitoba Hal, a true one-man band who, alone on stage, knew how to revive in a remarkable way the greatest standards of the blues.” - La Voix Du Nord July 2022
“Manitoba Hal is great!!!! He can take you from zero to being a blues boss in a short amount of time. raised my confidence in playing greatly. totally inspired me to play!” - Sally Paton
“From all your friends in Saskatoon that you have entertained for so many years..... on stage in concert and in our cozy living rooms where you told tales of how songs came to be and twisted yarns of your travels !! You kept us mesmerized and at times in tears as you sang.” - Joannie Dueck (on Facebook)
“A charming pro that holds his own against time and tide in fine style, it's easy to say this is as good as white boy blues gets... ” - Midwest Record.com Jan 12, 2017
“If you like singer songwriters you're going to enjoy Manitoba Hal, if you love, country, blues, folk, gospel, cajun, and celtic, music then you're going to love Manitoba Hal!” - Brian Mcghee (Keep Ukulele Playing Live)
“Winnipeg raised bluesman ... Manitoba Hal gave the blues a new twist at the Tongue N Groove, July 21... As promised, he cracked jokes and told stories, but when he picked out classic blues licks on his ukulele, jaws dropped.” - Richard Amery - L.A. Beat