Contest Rules

1. Registration begins at 8 am on Saturday, April 26, 2025. The contest commences at 10 am with the youth competition. The main competition will start no earler than noon. Regsitration for each even is open until the event starts, and each subsequent event will begin promptly. We have no way to know how long each event will last, it is entirely dependent on the number of entries. Please take care to pay attention during the day so you don't miss your event. If your name and number are called and you are not present, you will lose your chance to compete in that event.
2. Participants of the fiddle, banjo, and stringed band categories will be asked to initially present one representative piece of music. In the event of gaining the finals round, each fiddle competitor shall prepare two pieces: one lively piece and one waltz piece. Other categories will be asked to play (or dance) one tune/song of their choosing. Diversifying one’s presentation of musical skills may be favorable to the judges, and they will be asked to give special consideration to tunes/songs that are from local sources. Local sources means music from upper East Tennessee.
3. If any of the contest categories have ten or fewer entries, no finals will be necessary. Competitors within the dance and singing categories will furnish one musical sampling each.
4. The judge's decisions shall be irrevocable.
5. You must play by ear only (no sheet music)
6. Each contestant may have accompaniment from no more than four persons unless a fifth is doing the hambone (the accompanist may not play the same instrument as the competitor in question).
7. Each contestant is encouraged to render only the length of their piece seen as necessary (several times through a tune is usually enough). Singers of ballads should take particular care to abbreviate their offerings (5-minute limit).
8. Any person enrolling themselves in the competition may participate in no more than two separate categorical events (excluding Stringband). This means you can compete in two categories AND Stringband. 
9. Singers will also remain mindful of the fact that the judges will offer preference to performances that demonstrate a connection to the traditional singing and repertoire of these southern mountains.
10. Dancers will be accompanied by a house band, and will kindly resist the urge to attach metal taps to the bottom of their competition shoes. Clogging, flat-footing, buck-dancing, or any hybrid of these forms is appropriate.