FESTIVALS
The 2027 AISGC Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival will be held July 22-24, 2027 at the Winchester Community Centre in Winchester, Indiana. Reserve your hotel early to ensure you have a room for the festival. More information to be announced soon! A summary of the 2026 festival can be viewed below.
The 2026 AISGC Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival was held July 23-25th, 2026, at the Towne Square Community Centre in Winchester, Indiana. This year's festival was packed with more seminars, performances, jam sessions, Q&A, and learning opportunities! The 2026 special guest artist was Mālie Lyman. Malie is an in-demand steel guitar recording artist, superb vocalist, and great grand daughter of renowned Hawaiian singer, Auntie Genoa Keawe. Hawaiian steel guitar master and instructor, Alan Akaka, also returned to perform and conduct a seminar.
The festival opened on Thursday with a welcome address from the mayor of Winchester, Indiana, Bob McCoy. The festival then proceeded with performances by Mālie Lyman (HI), Joe Stewart (CO), and Alan Akaka (HI).The Thursday afternoon program began with a wonderful workshop on steel guitar tricks by Mike Bonnice. Upon conclusion of the seminar, guests had learned a number of licks to play across many different songs. The Thursday afternoon program continued with great performances by Ivan Reddington (FL), Vickie Van Fechtmann (HI), Grant Curless (KY), Dick Martiny (MI), and Chris Sullivan (KY). Hotel jam sessions continued throughout the night.
On Friday, the talent continued with fantastic performances by Isaac Jon (TN), Braxton Harshman (IN), Doug Smith (OH), and Mālie Lyman (HI). Friday afternoon featured a great seminar hosted by Alan Akaka. The seminar focused on technique where players learned how to improve their touch and tone. Upon conclusion of the seminar, the afternoon continued with performances by Mike Bonnice (AZ), Gerald Ross (MI), Nancy Beck (IN), Alan Akaka (HI), Ron Cabanada with Mark Prucha (IL), and a duet ukulele set featuring Bill Wynne (NJ) and Gerald Ross (MI) .
Saturday featured another packed lineup of talent with awesome performances by Sharon Denney (IN), Christo Ruppenthal (WI), Mark Prucha (IL), Bill Wynne (NJ), and Alan Akaka (HI). Saturday afternoon began with a special performance by The Williams Twins (MI). The set featured lots of audience participation as well as some surprise hula dancers. After the performance, AISGC President, Mark Prucha, presented the twins with a plaque recognizing all their contributions to the club. Saturday afternoon continued with performances by Joseph Zayac (HI), Mālie Lyman (HI), and Ethan Goore (HI). Saturday evening, guests were treated to a great luau show presented by Mālie. The show featured many special guest performers including Winchester resident, Braxton Harshman, and Emily McCoy, daughter of Mayor Bob McCoy. The festival closed with all gathered together to sing "Hawaii Aloha" and "Aloha 'Oe".The 2026 AISGC festival was made possible by the generous donations of so many attendees, members, and supporters. Thank you so much to everyone who participated! We hope to see everyone next year!
