Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest

Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest is a music festival and competition, held annually in Topanga Canyon, California. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic music, folk singing and folk dancing are presented. The contest includes a random mix of beginning, intermediate and advanced players, professional players, string bands and dancers.

History

The first competition the "Banjo Pickers and Open Fiddling Contest", created jointly by Margot Slocum and Margaret Jean "Peg" Engwall Benepe,[1] was a music-only event held in 1961. Twenty-six Five-String Banjo Pickers, five Fiddlers, four Judges and five hundred fans attended that first gathering amid the California Scrub Oak of the Santa Monica Mountains. For the next eight years it was held on the grounds of the 1920s-era "Camp Wildwood" until a 1969 city ordinance forced a move to large venues. The next nineteen years saw the festival move around Southern California until finally landing at its current location at the Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, California, near its origins.

The Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest was the forerunner of many folk art festivals. Many of Topanga's contestants have gone on to become professional musicians. Numerous stars and musicians have participated, including Jackson Browne, David Lindley, Taj Mahal, John Hartford, Byron Berline, Dan Crary, Frank Hamilton, Erik Darling, John Hickman, Stuart Duncan and Steve Martin.[2][3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Peg Engwall 1921-2012 (Cofounder of Topanga Canyon Banjo & Fiddle Contest ) - Discussion Forums". Banjo Hangout. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  2. ↑ Christy Orgeta (August 9, 2010). "Worth the Drive: Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest". NBC San Diego. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  3. ↑ History of the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle contest, retrieved 2013-08-27

External links

Official webpage of the Topanga Banjo/Fiddle Contest


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