Lafeyette: A Small Town With a Big Heart for Ukuleles 

It was named after the Marquis de La Fayette, a French military hero of the American Revolutionary War. Today, Lafayette is known for its top rated schools, low crime rates, clean air, pastoral rolling hills and wealthy inhabitants. Homes here start at a million dollars, so it’s easy to see why Lafayette is the gem of the East Bay.  

Located between Berkeley and Walnut Creek, the residential town is noted for its high quality of life and has its own Bay Area Rapid Transit station, making it only a 25-minute ride from San Fransisco, home of the SF Uke Jam Summer Uke-splosion.  

Hosted by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, an arts organization that runs events in San Francisco, the SF Uke Jam Summer Uke-splosion is an annual afternoon of aloha and music underneath the summer sun. The event includes performances, strum-and-sing-alongs and special hula appearances.  

The SF Uke Jam also holds the city’s annual Uke-tober Fest. Along with hosts Cynthia Lin and Ukulenny, the event has welcomed highly sought-after ukulele super-couple Craig Chee, Sarah Maisel, Aldrine Guerrero and Aaron Nakamura of Ukulele Underground and Abe Lagrimas Jr., and in-demand jazz percussionist who also wrote the book on Jazz Ukulele.  

​There’s also the Nihonmachi Street Fair, a two-day Japanese culture festival with a strong ukulele presence, but if you’re looking to stay closer to the little town of Lafayette, even closer is the annual Ukulele Festival of Northern California. This one-day event is the longest-running uke festival on the mainland and features guests like Bryan Tolentino, Chirs Kamaka and Herb Ohta Jr. The event is normally held on the last week of April at Chabot College in Haward, California – a half-hour’s drive from Lafayette.  

Of course, every uke town has to have its ukulele club, and for Lafayette, Lamorinda Music leads the pack.  

The town’s music store offers three levels of group classes that meet for a series of Saturdays: Beginner I, Beginner II, and a new Intermediate-level class called "Let's Jam".​  

Beginner I ensures that if you’ve never picked up the uke before, you’ll be playing by the end of the first session, which covers tuning, basic chords and strumming. Beginner II is designed for those who have taken the Beginner I  class, or those who’ve been playing for a while and want to focus on fundamentals. Building chord repertoire and basic strumming styles are covered in this class. Let’s Jam! Is a guided strum circle for experienced players who want to play in an advanced group.

The store also offers a weekly no-pressure gathering of ukulele fans for those interested in joining a uke club. The Lamorinda Music Ukulele Club meets Mondays from 7:00 until 9:00pm with a 15 minute break at 8:00pm for refreshments. Songs are taken from The Daily Ukulele and The Daily Ukulele – Leap Year Edition by Liz & Beloff. All skill levels are welcome.