Ukulele festival: Thousands of young Kiwis strum their hearts out

Ukulele festival: Thousands of young Kiwis strum their hearts out

There was a massive strum-fest in Auckland on Saturday.

Two-thousand children from more than 100 schools played their ukuleles together at the 10th annual festival, and a top New Zealand band made a surprise appearance of their own.

Not just 10 guitars but 2000 ukuleles. The sound of the strings rang out at the Vector Arena - a venue usually reserved for top rock stars and celebrity acts.

But today it was all about the children and their ukuleles.

The Kiwileles Orchestra is made up from schools across New Zealand, all learning songs from the same official songbook and coming together on Saturday for the big performance.

As well as traditional Kiwi classics, they have mastering more modern tunes - Six60 was the surprise guest picking up the ukulele for the first time.

Saturday's festival is celebrating its 10th year, and with the instrument now more popular than ever there is new life in the old favourite.

Newshub.