Indiana State Pickin’ and Fiddlin’ Championships moving to Boonville

indiana-state-pickin-logo

 

It’s been 30 years this year since the Indiana General Assembly created the Official Indiana State Picking and Fiddling Championships.  This year the contest is being moved to a new home.

The contest features musicians from across the country competing in bluegrass and acoustic style music in categories like guitar, banjo, mandolin, old time signing and free style clogging.

The first official contest was held in 1985 in Winslow, Indiana.  It was there for a short time then moved to Petersburg and later to Princeton.  It’s been managed by several civic organizations and has had numerous corporate sponsors.        In recent years it has been part of the annual Labor Day Association’s festival which rotates to a different city every year.

Now the official contest will find it’s home in Boonville, Indiana.

The state picking and fiddling championships are brought to us now by Boonville NOW, a city improvement organization.   The contest will be October 3rd as part of the Boonville Merchant Square Flare featuring crafts, food and music in downtown Boonville.

In the past the contest entrants have went on to become famous names in the bluegrass music industry including, Ron Stewart, Michael Cleveland, David Petersen, Chris Thile (thee-lee), Mike Sumner and many more.