Posted
on June 16, 2014
Part contest, part festival – all old-time fun!
This
annual festival is held at the high school of Weiser, Idaho, drawing
thousands of people and hundreds of fiddlers competing in the
contest. There are workshops, performances, music battles, a parade,
and a carnival. Most of the visitors camp in the school's sports
fields!
This
contest has been going on a long, long time – more than 60 years!
According to Wikipedia, it sets the standards for fiddling
competitions.
Actually,
it has never occurred to me before that there were such things as
fiddling competitions.
But I guess if people can compete to see who can eat the most hot dogs in one sitting – well, let's just saw that a fiddling competition makes a lot more sense!
But I guess if people can compete to see who can eat the most hot dogs in one sitting – well, let's just saw that a fiddling competition makes a lot more sense!
Judges
like to see Texas Contest Style fiddling with good old-time fiddling
style, danceability, rhythm, timing, and good tone. There are several
different divisions, depending on the competitors' ages.
- There are (it turns out) lots of different styles of fiddling, and some of the swing and bluegrass and Irish fiddling comes out during the performances and the jam sessions!. Check out this video for a taste of several styles!
- A fiddle is, of course, a violin, and one of the earlier versions of the instrument is the medieval vielle. Check out some very old dance tunes played on a really old-style fiddle, here.
- Of all those styles “tasted” above, I loved Irish fiddling the best, so here is one more of that sort of fiddle music! Boy, does my heart sing to this music!
- Last but not least, I love TED Talks, and I thought that this TED Talk by two Canadian fiddlers was fairly long but charming!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
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out my Pinterest boards for:
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here are my Pinterest boards for:
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