Hundreds Turn Out for Annual Fiddler’s Jamboree
HOLLADAY, Tenn. — In a 58 year tradition the annual Old Time Bluegrass and Fiddler’s Jamboree lives on. “I’m not expecting to win or anything I’m just expecting to go up there and have a good time,” Annabelle Watts, a fiddler player, said. For the first time 12-year-old Watts, known across America for her musical talents, came from Kentucky with her Dad to test her luck in Holladay. “I go to a bunch of different contests and festivals but we haven’t been to this one so we decided to go ahead and try it out,” Watts said. Watts added that she was inspired after finding her Mom’s violin seven years ago. “She had it in the basement and I went down there and I found it,” Watts remembers. “And I brought it up stairs and told my Dad that’s what I wanted to play.” Coordinators say the jamboree is a fundraiser for Holladay Elementary School. But for Western Stewart, a former national banjo winner and three time banjo champ in Holladay, the contest is a chance to teach his music students a lesson about lifelong tradition. “I just enjoy keeping this type of music going,” Stewart said. “I like the fact that I’m helping keep this music alive.” The jamboree is a fundraiser for Holladay Elementary School. All proceeds from the event go toward the students.
