Princess Gabbara

Lansing State Journal

Looking to shake things up in the middle of your work day?

A flash mob of ukulele players will take over downtown Lansing on Friday. They'll strum away at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Avenue at noon.

The tradition started a couple years ago as part of Mighty Uke Day, which bills itself as the Midwest's largest ukulele festival. Close to 400 people came last year.

Ben Hassenger, the festival's founder and a member of The Ukulele Kings, often jokes about how the ukulele took over his life while he was vacationing in Hawaii in 2009. A ukulele festival happened to be going on, he said.

The ukulele is a special instrument because "it puts a smile on everyone's face who hears it and it's accessible," he said.

"You could teach someone three chords and they could easily play a bunch of songs just using those three chords."

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What started out six years ago as a small viewing party of the documentary film, "Mighty Uke" in the basement of Elderly Instruments took a different turn by the end of the night.

"Someone asked me, 'What are we doing next year?'" Hassenger said, "so it really grew from there."

Going forward, Hassenger promises an "even bigger and crazier" festival.

The world's largest ukulele will be displayed once again this year. It's 13 feet and 1 inch long, exactly 7.5 times bigger than the normal ukulele, according to Guinness World Records.

Concerts and workshops will take place throughout the weekend. Performers include Rachael Davis, Julianna Wilson, Marlowe, and Heidi Swedberg and Daniel Ward.

Proceeds will go toward the nonprofit Music is the Foundation.

Contact Princess Gabbara at pgabbara@lsj.com or 577-377-1006. Follow her on Twitter at @PrincessGabbara.

Mighty Uke Day Festival

Noon to 10 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday. For the full schedule, locations and pricing information, go to www.mightyukeday.com/schedule-tickets/.