Let the Fiddlin' Begin

The young fiddlers of Tehachapi and surrounding areas will be starting off this year with the Amateur Fiddle Contest on March 14, 2015. The event will be held at Carden School of Tehachapi, 20419 Brian Way, in Tehachapi. Starting at 8 a.m. contestants will need to register for their chance to hopefully take their position in the First Place spot. The Amateur Fiddle Contest is centered on kids that are 18 and under to promote music and arts at a young age.

Young fiddlers from around the area come to try their skill, and with a little luck, go home with a trophy. Those who win their respective division will compete against each other to be the contests' Grand Champion. The Grand Champion from the 2014 Amateur Contest was Molly Sponslor of Tehachapi, Calif.

Last year's contest brought a little over 40 young fiddlers out to play and the audiences were treated to some great toe-tappin' music. As always, spectator admission is still FREE! Where else can you get great music and good clean family fun with no admission price?!

The Amateur Contest is sponsored by District 3 of the California State Old-Time Fiddlers Association and serves to promote and preserve old time fiddling as part of our country's heritage. Fiddlers compete by age categories for prizes, and there is a picking contest for guitar, banjo, and mandolin players as well.

CSOTFA District 3 also will sponsor the "39th Annual Fiddlin' Down the Tracks" Fiddle Contest which draws fiddlers of all ages, from all over California as well as other states. It will be held Sept. 19 and 20 and is the same weekend as the Tehachapi Fall Harvest Fair. This year's tribute will be a first for the district to honor a female fiddler, Vivian Willams. The CSOTFA is a non-profit organization and operates on the support of donations from the community.

Please visit us at TehachapiFiddlers.org for more information about the contests held, how to make donations, become a member, and other information about the CSOTFA. You can also contact the contest Chairman, Steve Andersen at (661) 750-2811.