Fiddle Championship runs Aug. 6 to 10

The 58th Canadian Open Old Time Fid­dle Championship takes place Aug. 6 to 10 here.

Sponsored by the Shelburne Rotary Club, with partners Dufferin Mutual Insurance Company, Forecast Group, and Yamaha Canada Music, the event features Canada’s top fiddlers in competition for over $20,000 in prizes.

Community events in con­junction with championship in­clude fiddle workshops, camp­ing, a giant fiddle parade feat­uring the Toronto Police Winged Wheels, arts and crafts, an open air market, non-de­nomi­national church service and community pork barbecue.

On Aug. 9 at 7:30pm, the Shelburne Rotary Club wel­comes three-time Canadian Open champion Mark Sullivan back to town.

The show will feature Canadian Old Time Fiddling, Western Swing, and other traditional forms per-formed by Sullivan, with Kelli Trottier, Geoff Horrocks, and championship step dancing.

The championship starts with the playdowns on Aug. 8 at 1pm and 7pm at the Shel­burne arena. Classes that will compete in the afternoon in­clude ages 9 and under, 10 to 12, and 65 and over.

The evening features the re­maining classes.

The contest finals are on Aug. 9 at 7pm and will feature entertainment by several young fiddle and stepdancing groups: the Ballagh Bunch, Triple Explosion, and Step’n Time with The Ziebarth Family.

For the first time in many years, a judges’ showcase will also be part of the Saturday night entertainment, featuring Webb Acheson, Sullivan, and Trottier.

Tickets are:

- event package, adults $40, children $20 (12 and under);

- Sullivan old time fiddle show Aug. 7, adults, $20, children: $10;

- competition playdowns Aug. 8, 1 and 7pm, adults, $10, kids $3; and

- fiddle championship Aug. 9, 7pm, adults, $20 and child­ren: $10.

Tickets are available at Holmes Appliances and Music Shop, 147 Main Street West, Shelburne, or by phone from the Town of Shelburne at 519-925-2600 extension 230.

For more information visit www.shelburnefiddlecontest.on.ca.