Time to get your bluegrass on: Weiser National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest & Festival Continues Through Today

It's time to get your bluegrass on!

The Weiser National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest & Festival The contest continues through today.

The hub of official Festival activity is Bluegrass Village City Park, located between East 3rd and East 4th Streets, next to the Courthouse, on E. Court Street. The park is filled to capacity with the Northwest’s finest craft and merchandise vendors. Our food court, “Fiddle Vittles Road,” can satisfy the hankerings of nearly everyone. Vendors serve up fine BBQ, Mexican food, Chinese and Japanese fare, Buffalo Burgers, Prime Rib Sandwiches, Brats, Polish Sausage, Curly Fries, Baked Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Teriyaki, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, Indian Fry Bread.

Stately mature trees provide lots of shade and give an old-fashioned atmosphere as you sit a spell and enjoy the continuous entertainment on the stage. Entertainment begins around noon and goes until around 9:30 in the evening. They feature more Bluegrass Music in tonight's line-up.

A highlight for the younger set is the carnival located at Memorial Park, a few blocks directly north of City Park.

Weiser is a small town, with a population of just about 5,500. With 30,000 to 40,000 people expected for the festival throughout the week, Weiser will definitely be full, said Laura Adams, director of the Weiser Chamber of Commerce. People come to compete, to enjoy the music, to vacation and for a variety of other reasons, she said. “We have people from all over the world.”

Sandy Cooper, executive director of the National Oldtime Fiddlers Contest and Festival and the corporation of the same name that sponsors the events, is settling into her new office in Slocum Hall, west of the high school and formerly part of the Intermountain Institute.

One of the new events at the festival this year will be the banjo contest today at 5:30 p.m. at Beardsley Hall, next to the Snake River Heritage Museum, west of the high school. There will be three categories, and sign-up is at the high school fiddle office Saturday and Sunday. There is no admission charge.

One of Idaho’s largest and finest parades begins at noon today. Don’t miss it! The number of entrants has more than doubled in the last two years! The Battle of the Bluegrass Bands takes place on this afternoon right after the parade.

All this and much more await your pleasure on the Festival side of things.

Fiddle Week is a great opportunity for folks such as our local Elks’ Lodge and Xi Nu Sorority, local church groups, Scouts and 4-H kids, athletics department, Weiser High School Band and many others to raise funds for their special community projects.

"We are thrilled to have so much interest in joining in all the festivities!" the Fiddle Festival website reads.