A day of rousing music and fun-filled competition will take place at Homestead National Monument of America’s Education Center on Saturday, May 24.
A fiddle workshop will be held in the morning at 10 a.m. Registration for the contest begins at 1 p.m. and the competition begins at 2 p.m. with a concert of winners starting at 7 p.m.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary, total prize money for the Monumental Fiddling Championship and Acoustic Band Contests will increase to $1,000, thanks to the Leigh F. Coffin, Jane M. Coffin and Leigh M. Coffin Foundation plus the drawing from the participants for a new fiddle thanks to Nancy Rohn of California. There is no registration fee or admission fee for the events.
The day will start with a free workshop for fiddlers. Participants will be divided into Junior (less than five years of experience) and Senior divisions. Participants will be asked to play a hoedown, waltz and tune of choice. All music should date from the time the Homestead Act was passed in 1862 to when Homestead National Monument of America was created in 1936.
There will be an evening concert of winners, with the top three in each division receiving cash prizes and trophies. Times for the workshop, registration, competition and evening concert will be announced at a later date.
The Nebraska Chapter of American String Teachers Association will again conduct a fiddle tune-writing contest. The winning tune will be announced at the competition.
For more information on the writing contest, contact Deborah Greenblatt at g-s@alltel.net. The Monumental Fiddling Championship and Acoustic Band Contest is sponsored in part by the Nebraska Arts Council, Leigh F. Coffin, Jane M. Coffin and Leigh M. Coffin Foundation and Eastern National Bookstore.
Homestead National Monument of America is located four miles west of Beatrice on Nebraska Highway 4.