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July 28 & 29, 2006!

Welcome to FiddleFest!
Welcome to FiddleFest 2006, one of Virginia’s premier traditional music events. Our tradition of top-quality entertainment with concerts, workshops, and jam sessions with the pros will continue in ’06. Held entirely on the Hollins University campus, daytime events will again be indoors at the various galleries, auditoriums, and lounge areas of campus, in climate-controlled comfort. Evening concerts from the outdoor main stage at Tinker Beach begin each day at 6:00 PM. A new schedule of concerts, workshops, and jam sessions can be viewed by visiting the schedule page.

This Year at FiddleFest
The workshop & roundtable series at FiddleFest will continue, offering both players and fans a unique opportunity to get up close to the performers, and learn from them first hand. Our workshops are unmatched in quality, with the premiere players in acoustic music today teaching and demonstrating their talent, tips, and styles to festival attendees. Bring your instruments and your notepad to learn from the best in the business. Our unique roundtable series offers the festival-goer an opportunity to learn even more about the performers – their history, influences, and what inspires them to make this music. During the 2003 festival, attendees had the opportunity to meet with Charlie Waller, the Osborne Brothers, the Seldom Scene, Dale Ann Bradley, The Lost and Found, Ronnie Reno, and many others – and literally sit down with them in a roundtable setting, hearing their history and the history of this music. Imagine the opportunity to have a conversation with the legends of this music! At FiddleFest, that opportunity will present itself every day. Topics this year will include song writing, instruction in mandolin, banjo, bass, fiddle, guitar, resonator guitar, lead and harmony singing, and other special programs. Visit the workshops & roundtables section for more details.

Our Mission
Our mission at FiddleFest is to provide the best in traditional string music programs, and to provide the venue for performance, discussion, instruction, and preservation of this uniquely American art form.

Assist FiddleFest
You can assist us in this endeavor by making your tax-deductible contribution to the FiddleFest Foundation. The foundation’s purpose is to provide funding for this festival and its off-shoot programs like the Festival Documentary, which preserves the music and its performers in film and recordings so that future generations and scholars may enjoy and study it. The foundation will also establish a scholarship program for students who wish to pursue a course of study in music.

FiddleFest Fun!
Jam Sessions with the Pros – click here to view the schedule
All skill levels may participate, see description for individual skill levels of each session

Bluegrass Karaoke! Here’s your chance to show your vocal stuff on stage with a pro band! Sign up for Friday and Saturday competitions, from the Tinker Beach Stage. Competition winners each day will perform with the band during the evening concert, and will recieve a fantastic prize package of gifts from our sponsors.