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Happy Valley Fiddler’s Convention Takes Place August 31 to September 2

Being a fiddler himself, Tom Dooley would have felt right at home at the Historic Happy Valley Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention. In its third year, the fiddlers’ convention will be held on the Jones Farm in northeastern Caldwell County on N.C. Byway 268 from Friday, August 31, through Sunday, September 2. Last year’s festival brought more than 1,500 people to the historic farm.

The fiddlers’ convention is a nonprofit, community event designed to preserve and promote the cultural heritage resources of Happy and Yadkin Valley through an annual music festival that highlights traditional old-time and bluegrass music and rural traditions.

Gates will open Friday at 12 noon with activities lasting until 9:00 p.m. Saturday’s events will run from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday’s activities will last from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Admission to the convention is $10 and includes Friday and Saturday. Donations will be accepted on Sunday, and children under 12 are free. All proceeds are reinvested into the convention and the community. Rustic camping is available to festivalgoers on Friday and Saturday night for $10 per night. No electric or water hookups are available to individual campsites. Home-cooked meals will be prepared by local organizations and nonprofit agencies throughout the weekend.

Jones Farm is the final resting place of Laura Foster who was immortalized in the folk song “The Ballad of Tom Dooley.” Dooley, a local man who served during the Civil War, was accused in 1867 of murdering Foster. The events surrounding this crime and Dooley’s subsequent trial and execution live on in North Carolina’s best-known murder ballad and in stories passed down in local families.

Bluegrass lovers can look forward to a three-day weekend with dance competitions on Friday, individual instrument and band competitions on Saturday, and the Gospel Homecoming on Sunday.

Dancers will begin the weekend vying for the top three slots in the clogging and flatfoot categories, with contestants receiving $100, $50 and $25 for first, second and third place. Musicians are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and join informal jam sessions scattered throughout the farm. The dance competitions will take place from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and will end with a community dance.

Musicians will compete on Saturday for $400, $250 and $125 for the top three bands and $100, $50 and $25 for individual performers. Contests include old-time and bluegrass fiddle, old-time and bluegrass banjo, guitar and mandolin, as well as bluegrass and old-time bands. New this year, the festival will offer contests for the twin fiddle, autoharp and the Appalachian dulcimer.

Registration for music competitions starts Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. The top finalists in each category will perform from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m.

Several heritage events will take place on Saturday including dance demonstrations by the St. Joseph Irish Step Dancers along with hayrides, tours to the Laura Foster graveside, a children’s program and a corn shucking contest. For a little fun on the river, a duck derby race sponsored by Caldwell County Pathways will let loose hundreds of rubber ducks into the Yadkin River to raise funds for the creation of trails, greenways and blueways in Caldwell County. The fastest 10 rubber ducks will win prizes. Duck sponsorships are $5. Sponsors that purchase four ducks or more will receive a free t-shirt. Duck sponsorships can be purchased at the Caldwell County Chamber of Commerce.

Another new Saturday event will be the Players Meet the Makers area. A dozen carefully selected and highly skilled instrument builders from Western North Carolina will gather under one tent to demonstrate their skills with old-style tools and techniques in creating handcrafted musical instruments. Craft persons will show their handiwork and answer questions concerning their trade. The instruments will be available for players to try out during the event.

On Sunday, the Happy Valley Ruritan will coordinate the first gospel singing at the convention. Visitors will hear the sounds of old-time hymns celebrating the local bluegrass-gospel heritage during the Gospel Homecoming from 12:30 to 3:00 p.m.

Acts performing on Sunday include the Cockman Family Bluegrass Gospel Group, Former Stanley Brothers guitarist George Shuffler and Laura Boosinger, the Boerger Family and the Christian Faith Bluegrass Band.

The Jones Farm is located on N.C. 268 in Caldwell County, 8.2 miles east of US 321 and 18.4 miles west of US 421. Fixed seating is limited‚ so bring a chair. For directions, competition rules or more info, click to www.happyvalleyfiddlers.com, email happyvalleyfc@yahoo.com, or call Brandon McCann at 828-726-0616.

Want To Go?

Dates: Friday, August 31 to Sunday, September 2
Location: Jones Farm, northeastern Caldwell County
Cost: $10