At first glance, the ukulele can seem like a novelty instrument: tiny, portable, unserious. The cultural shorthand still lingers somewhere between Tiny Tim and a beach-bar singalong. But spend five minutes talking to Ben Hassenger, director of the upcoming Ukelele Weekend at The Ashokan Center, and another picture emerges—one rooted less in virtuosity than in community. “The ukulele is the most folk of folk instruments because it brings folks together,” Hassenger says.
Running May 22-25, the annual gathering combines workshops, performances, open mics, and communal jam sessions in the wooded setting of Ashokan’s campus near the Catskills. The weekend draws everyone from total beginners to seasoned performers, all orbiting an instrument Hassenger describes as disntinctly democratic. “You can get some immediate gratification with it,” he says. “You can play three or four chords, learn to play them pretty quickly, and play a bunch of songs.”
Hassenger, who also runs several other ukulele festivals in Michigan, first came to Ashokan to help original director Gerald Ross with the event nearly a decade ago. He immediately connected with the place itself—the woods, the lakes, the feeling that music here is less performance than shared experience. “I just loved the whole natural surroundings there and the integration of nature and music,” he says.
That atmosphere shapes the structure of the weekend as much as the music does. While there are workshops broken down by skill level—from “ukulele from scratch” classes to advanced technique sessions—the emphasis is intentionally collaborative rather than competitive. “You’ll see people that just picked up the ukulele and then one of our teaching artists who’s been a pro for years, they’re just hanging out jamming,” Hassenger says. “No one’s trying to outdo each other.”
That ethos carries into the festival’s nightly events, particularly the Camper Cabaret open mic, where attendees form ad hoc groups over the course of the weekend and perform together by Sunday night. For Hassenger, those moments matter as much as formal instruction. “That’s where it all comes together,” he says. “The confidence, the friendship, the skill learning.”
The faculty lineup reflects that philosophy. While the weekend includes accomplished performers and veteran musicians, Hassenger says teaching ability matters more than pure chops. “You can be the greatest player in the world, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can teach,” he says.
This year’s instructors include players grounded in folk traditions, Americana, pop, singer-songwriter music, and ensemble arranging, reflecting the ukulele’s increasingly broad repertoire. Hassenger rejects the idea that the instrument belongs to any one genre. “People like to pigeonhole ukulele music, but there’s no such thing as ukulele music,” he says. “It’s just music.”
That expanding view of the instrument mirrors its wider cultural shift over the last two decades. Hassenger traces the modern ukulele revival through Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Jake Shimabukuro’s viral performances, and the instrument’s gradual migration into mainstream pop music and advertising. “It’s become more mainstream,” he says. “People realize that it’s a musical instrument. It’s not just some weird little thing you play funny songs on all the time.”
Still, for all the online tutorials and Zoom lessons now available, Hassenger insists there’s no substitute for gathering in person. “The communal instrument that the ukulele is, I think it really lends itself to that interaction back and forth,” he says.
Which may ultimately explain the enduring appeal of a weekend like this. Yes, attendees come to learn chords, strumming patterns, and songs. But they also come for the thing folk music has always promised: The chance to make something collectively, with strangers who don’t stay strangers for very long.
Registration is open for the Ashokan Center’s Ukelele Weekend 2026. Lodging options are available.
