Time to put the 15th annual Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival on your calendar/NPS.
Rosin up your bow and tune your mandolin, for the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival is coming to Homestead National Monument of America.
The festival, scheduled for May 23, once was called the Monumental Fiddling and Acoustic Band Championship. Now renamed, the festival will feature a free workshop in the morning, jam sessions erupting throughout the day, up to $3,000 in award monies, and a chance to win a violin.
Still free to all participants and spectators, the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival encourages all ages and abilities to join in friendly competition. One unique rule for this competition is that all songs must have been in existence when Homestead National Monument of America was established in 1936. There are Junior, Senior, Legend and Acoustic Band divisions.
The competition is geared towards all ability levels and begins with Deborah Greenblatt teaching a free workshop in the morning. She was the first woman to win the Nebraska State Fiddling Championship, the first woman to win the Mid-America Fiddle Championship, and is a member of the Mid-America Old-Time Fiddler's Hall of Fame.
Greenblatt finds the atmosphere at the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival to be inviting and nurturing for all levels of musicians. It is a day for fiddlers of all ages and experience levels to come together much like they did when the first pioneers arrived in the 1800s and began settling the prairie. The sounds of fiddlers were often heard whenever homesteaders got together, and those same sounds will be heard at the 15th annual Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival.
Greenblatt enjoys the jam sessions. 'They inspire and entertain each other on stage and play nicely together in the many jam sessions that erupt all over the landscape,' she said. Through the years she said that many musicians have told her they were inspired to begin to play because of the performances and jam sessions they observed at the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival.
The competition is free and offers fiddlers the chance to be judged in a non-threatening environment. Each participant is given comments by the three judges. Professional musician and high school band director Nathan LeFeber has been a judge several times.
'From the great music that is made, to the prizes and trophies, to the free fiddle they give away each year, it is no wonder folks are coming from miles around to compete in this contest,' said LeFeber.
Competition helps musicians get better.
'Give folks a high standard and then let them work at trying to achieve their best with the hopes they might be in the top three. That is what competition in music is all about,' said LeFeber.
Twenty-one year old Joe Fedrizzi from Dearborn, Missouri, has placed several times in competition, including winning the Senior Division and finishing third last year in the Legends Division. Ferizzi enjoys the thrill of competing, the chance to meet new people and hear new songs. 'If I hear a song I like at competition, I will go home and do my best to learn the song,' said Fedrizzi.
Following the morning workshop, participants will break for lunch and prepare for the competition in the afternoon. Onsite lunch and snacks will be provided by Back Alley Eatery. The day ends with the announcement of winners. Trophies and cash prizes are awarded to the top three finishers in the Junior, Senior, Legend and the Acoustic Band divisions, as well as a drawing for a free fiddle!
The winner of a Tune Writing Competition, which is held in conjunction with the Nebraska Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, is also announced during the festival. The best left-handed fiddler and the youngest fiddler also are recognized.
The Coffin Family Foundation has been a long-time supporter and provides the funding for the cash prizes. Leigh F. Coffin started the foundation 17 years ago to help support and enrich the community, its youth and history. His son said the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival fits into his father's vision. Another partner for this event is the Nebraska Arts Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information and contest rules, visit http://www.nps.gov/home/.
Homestead National Monument of America, located in Beatrice, Nebraska, has an exciting schedule of events planned for 2015. Keep up with the latest information by following the park on Twitter (HomesteadNM), Facebook (HomesteadNM), and Instagram (HomesteadNPS). Hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. There is no admission.
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Comments
A very appropriate place for this event. Fiddle music must have enlivened many a gathering for homesteaders across the country in years gone by.
Wish I could make it.
What a wonderful opportunity for anyone who can get there!
I had the privilege of spending a couple of days visiting Homestead a few years ago. Planned to spend just a short time and wound up becoming enthralled by the place. Its visitor center exhibits are incredible.
And so are the people of the town of Beatrice, Nebraska. Friendly and welcoming is an understatement. They invite visitors to camp in the town park in the middle of a pleasant residential neighborhood. Some folks out walking in the evening even brought me a plate full of fresh baked cookies. The town's people repeatedly went out of their way to make me feel welcome.
I hope to go back some day.
I'll second Lee Dalton's remarks. It is a fascinating place. And just an hour or so south, in Kansas, is the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. Visiting both is a great way to get a sense of the seemingly endless vastness that the early pioneers saw, as well as their living conditions. (Stop at Cottonwood Falls and see the Chase County Courthouse, a stunning limestone building of what I would call the Wedding Cake style of architecture.
Trivia question: How do you pronounce Beatrice, the Nebraska town?
Ha, Amarillo! Good fun question for everyone. Let's see if anyone who hasn't been there can answer. It took about ten seconds for the first Beatrice resident I encountered to educate me.
Fun! And maybe part of the charm of the place.
My only visit to this park was close to 50 years ago, when I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, and back before they had the current visitor center, but I recall the pronouncation of the town wasn't what I expected. I think the emphasis was on the "B", as in Bee-ah-trice, with a "short i" in the last syllable. Wouldn't bet a cup of coffee on this, though :-)
Close, Jim, but not quite.
Beatrice (as pronounced by Nebraskans) = Bee-at-triss
Glad you guys enjoyed your time in our state.
I'd like to make it there. I'm still hoping to catch the sandhill cranes before they all leave. Darn bathroom remodel is hogging my time.