The Great Adelaide Ukulele Picnic

We were the Stars of the Show!

Earlier this year our ukulele teacher, Mr Rick Whitehead, was invited to form a school ukulele group to participate in The Great Adelaide Ukulele Picnic, the biggest ukulele event in South Australia, the biggest free ukulele event in Australia and probably the biggest ukulele picnic in the world!

Mr Whitehead invited his ukulele students from both Marion PS and Fulham Gardens PS to be part of a combined schools’ group to perform at the Ukulele Picnic. In total ten students, including Lexi, Hannah and Thomas from Room 11 and Mia from Room 10, were brave enough to accept the challenge to display their talents.

On Sunday 24th March, around 500 ukulele enthusiasts from across South Australia gathered in St Helens Park in Prospect to sing and strum songs at this year’s Great Adelaide Ukulele Picnic, which was the 10th anniversary of the event. The main feature of the Ukulele Picnic was a giant jam session where the various community ukulele groups present lead songs which were included in a specially prepared songbook.

Just after the lunch break it was the combined school group’s turn to present their songs on stage and we smashed it! Just about everyone at the picnic joined in the singing and playing of our three songs and many even stood up to join in our stirring version of The Hokey Pokey. We received rapturous applause from everyone! The large gathering of ukers were both delighted and impressed with our performance and were very generous in their praise of our efforts. The kids felt like stars, and they should have, because they were the stars of the show! I am so proud of these students who willingly volunteered to represent their schools at such a prestigious event. 

A big thank you goes to Mr Starling for play the ukulele bass in the backing band. A special thanks also goes to the families who supported their children by attending the Ukulele Picnic to watch their children and to join in the fun of the day. With such a positive experience for all involved we hope that more students will have such opportunities in the future.

Rick Whitehead

MPS Ukulele Teacher