About

The Aurora Uke Fest (formally City of Lights Ukulele Festival) will return to Downtown Aurora as a live event on August 19th, 2023, from 11 am to 6 pm showcasing our great City of Aurora, IL and the surrounding businesses.

Aurora Alderman Mike Saville envisioned The Aurora Uke Fest years ago as a fun event hosted in Downtown Aurora. He imagined a festival with performances from big names in the ukulele scene, workshops, vendors, and more.

Our dream is to make the Aurora Uke Fest one of the top uke festivals in the Midwest. Thanks to the surging popularity of the ukulele and the work of our ukulele committee members and volunteers, our dream is becoming a reality.

The festival is a win-win-win for performers, fans and the Aurora community.

A Letter from Alderman Mike Saville

Hosting a Ukulele Festival in Aurora is a musical and family event I have envisioned for the past few years.

On YouTube, I discovered videos of people of all ages and from all over the world playing and singing with the ukulele. Ukulele players rack up millions of views.

I also found Ukulele Festivals all over the world – very popular and well-attended family events.  Since Aurora already has a rich history of supporting musical events at the Paramount Theater, RiverEdge Park, and Downtown, I wanted to start a new tradition by proposing an annual Ukulele Festival for people of all ages in the Midwest. 

I phoned Todd VonOhlen, who works in the music business and has contacts in our local music community.  I pitched my idea of having an all-ukulele concert, sing-alongs, workshops, Hula Dancing, and food vendors – an all-around fun event.  Todd loved the idea and reached out to Carl and Andrew Hix at Hix Bros Music.

That’s how we began having regular weekly meetings to plan and host this event in our downtown.  

Our Aurora Uke Fest benefits our Downtown and puts Aurora on the map as an artistic and musical community that welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds. Our Ukulele committee, representing uke players and musicians of the Aurora area, has taken this idea to the next level to assure our success.   

I’m really excited about Aurora hosting this family-friendly event.  Aurora is a “Happening City”!!!

Sincerely,
Mike Saville
Alderman – 6th Ward