The Mount Airy Fiddlers Convention is a popular festival devoted to old-time and

bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...

, as well as related arts such as

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...

, which takes place each summer at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It was established in 1972. It is held on the first weekend in June. The festival features numerous solo and band competitions, whose winners are awarded cash prizes. Regular performers at the festival include

Benton Flippen James Benton Flippen (July 18, 1920 – June 28, 2011) was an old-time fiddler from Mount Airy, North Carolina. He was one of the last surviving members of a generation of performers born in the early 20th century playing in the Round P ...

, the

Carolina Chocolate Drops The Carolina Chocolate Drops were an old-time string band from Durham, North Carolina. Their 2010 album, ''Genuine Negro Jig,'' won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, and was number 9 in ''fRoots' ...

, and

Ira Bernstein Ira Bernstein (b. Malverne, New York, 1959) is a dancer and teacher in the United States who specializes in traditional American dance forms such as Appalachian-style clogging, flatfoot dancing, tap dance, and step dancing. He is considered an au ...

References

External links

Official site
Folk festivals in the United States Music festivals in North Carolina Festivals in North Carolina Old-time music festivals Bluegrass festivals Tourist attractions in Surry County, North Carolina Appalachian music Music festivals established in 1972 {{music-festival-stub

See also

References

External links