Hugh and Fi McCafferty first picked up the ukulele in 2009. Two years later, inspired by a Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra concert, they ran a series of adult classes. This morphed into a weekly ukulele group that they led for six years. In 2012 that group (grandiously named the Geraldine Ukuphonium Orchestra) performed at the Ukulele Extravaganza - a variety concert organised by Fi and Hugh as a fundraiser for their church.
Encouraged by the favourable response, the ideas for a festival were scribbled on a cafe napkin and the following year, Geraldine Ukefest was born. Since 2013's inaugural festival, GUF has has grown from a one-day event mostly attended by locals to what is now a four-day festival with international acts, workshops, community concerts, mass-strumalongs and jams, and most importantly - lots of opportunity for amateur performance. 
Following the 2015 festival, Fi and Hugh created a Facebook group to gather up New Zealand ukulele groups - New Zealand Ukulele Network (NZUN) - which now even has an elegant enamel badge for members to wear. This network has successfully grown a vibrant ukulele community made up of enthusiasts from all around the country. NZUN has international members, too, with a growing number of ukulele tourists now visiting New Zealand, playing their way around the country using the NZUN Club Directory as their guide.
When Hugh and Fi, AKA The Ukulele People, aren’t organising Geraldine Ukefest, they lead local strumalongs and entertain at resthomes, markets, weddings. They also teach kids and adult classes at their newly-formed School of Uke, Geraldine.
To find out more about the history of Geraldine Ukefest, here's a little blog Hugh and Fi wrote for an international publication: How to build a ukulele festival from scratch