State Fiddle Championships to be held in Hailey
By Dana DuGan
event at the Community Campus in Hailey.
Photo credit: Mikayla Shippy / Fiddlers, Inc.
From gypsies to cowboys, fiddling is an artform that transcends boundaries, cultures, gender and even age. And Idaho comes by its fiddling reputation from years of grassroots activity. In fact, Weiser, Idaho, is known as the fiddle capital of the world during its annual National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival each June.
Hailey has also joined the ranks as the place to be for those who play, and those who love fiddling, as the Idaho State Fiddle Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, at the Wood River High School Performing Arts Theater located at the Community Campus in Hailey.
“This event is a strong Idaho cultural event,” said Richard Fife, the business manager of Fiddlers, Inc., which hosts the event. “The number of children who participate in this state is phenomenal. That they can come play, compete, and make friends is wonderful. They want to have fun. Our largest division is in intermediate level, youth as well as adults, who’ve played for about five years. Certified winners are those who end up going to the national contest. This is one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had.”
The competitions will be held throughout the weekend, and there’s no charge to spectate. Among those competing will be novice, intermediate and certified fiddlers, from age 5 to 95. The adult divisions will compete Friday afternoon from 3 to 6:30 p.m. The youth divisions will compete on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the open championships will be held Saturday evening from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
On Friday, the entertainment will begin at 7 p.m. featuring several youth twin fiddling duets, and performances by contest judges Tim Hodgson of the Bar J Wranglers, Kelly Buckley and Taylor Buckley of Missoula, Mont.
Sandra Cooper, executive director of the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest, will be awarded the third annual Blaine Stubblefield Memorial Award. Stubblefield was the founder of the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser.
Topping off the entertainment will be a performance by “the yodeling cowboy,” Ernie Sites. Raised on a ranch in Wendell, Sites is a career musician who helped found the Western Music Association, and was inducted into the Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2018. Along the trail, he has performed with Riders in the Sky, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Gene Autry, and Sons of the Pioneers, among others. He now lives in Connecticut, where he works with an educational outreach program called Young Audiences of Connecticut.
The Idaho State Fiddle Championships were held for years in various locales, from Twin Falls to Shoshone, but “by 2013, at the end of the contest, Shoshone couldn’t continue supporting it,” Fife said.
“We looked at different places we could go—Hagerman, Twin, and Gooding—but they didn’t have suitable places,” Fife said. “We met with the chambers, and mayors’ offices. The attitude toward bringing it to Blaine County was absolutely positive. We made the decision to bring it up here as a trial, went to the Community Campus, and then we knew the facility was suitable. It’s the best facility in the state to host the contest due to the contest requirements.”
Fife added that the Blaine County community “really helps with our sponsorship funding. Without that, we couldn’t do it.”
Fife said the event is growing, both in reputation and in the number of competitors.
“Last year we had 70 youth and 15 adults compete,” he said. “This year we hope to have 80 youth and about 20 adults. Some of the adults we haven’t seen in quite some time, and there are some new names in youth division, as well. These are new fiddlers getting their feet wet in the competitions.”
New this year will be the inclusion of twin fiddling—two people playing the same piece.
Fife said that the organizers—Fiddlers, Inc.—want to try it out as a demonstration first. They sent invitations to each of the youth fiddling groups in the state and several organizations. “It gives us an opportunity to see what twin fiddling is all about,” Fife said. “We may have to grow the competition if it’s as popular as we think.”
Fife said a main component in being able to stage the championship at the Community Campus is the rooms available backstage, for segregating judges from the competitors and in which to practice.
Theater doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $15 adults (18-59); $12 seniors (60 and above); $10 veterans; $10 youth (7-17); children 6 and under are free; and the family package is $55.
There is no admission charge to watch the competitions. For more information and concert tickets, visit fiddlersofidaho.org or at the door.
