National Park hosts fiddle festival and competition, near Beatrice
BEATRICE – Fiddlers from around the Midwest and as far away as Montana participated in the Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival, Saturday.
The annual event is hosted by the Homestead National Historical Park, west of Beatrice. For several years, it has had the backing of the Coffin Family Foundation founded in 2000…an organization that is also a big supporter of the annual Homestead Days Celebration, coming up in June.
A fiddle competition during the event features junior, senior and legend division fidders as well as acoustic bands. Prior to the competition a fiddling workshop was held.
This Memorial Day weekend, the Homestead is also hosting a performance on Sunday at 1 p.m., by nationally-known dancing fiddler, Hillary Klug, from Tennessee. She was teaming up with Nebraska musicians David Marsh and Terry Keefe. A jam session and buck dancing workshop was planned just ahead of the Sunday performance.
2024 Tallgrass Prairie Fiddle Festival Results, Homestead National Historical Park – May 25, 2024
Junior Division
1st Place Mikayla Knott
Lincoln, NE
2nd Place Cyndi Christensen
Omaha, NE
3rd Place Maddie Bock
Lincoln, NE
Senior Division
1st Place Monte Gayload
Nowata OK
2nd Place Joe Fedrizi
Dearborn, MO
3rd Place Anne Nagosky
Omaha, NE
Picking Division
1st Place Monte Gayload
2nd Place Natasha Beckerbauer
Band Division
1st Place Monte Gayload
2nd Place Rattlesnake and Pearls
3rd Place Farewell Trio
