Visitors feast their eyes on Texas Hill Country’s wildflowers each spring. In Llano, there’s a musical feast for them, too – the Llano Fiddle Fest Weekend, the first weekend in April each year. The festival showcases the art of Texas style fiddling and music at its Open Fiddle Contest, plus an Air Fiddle contest, jams, a concert, and more. Texas style, also known as ‘the long bow’, requires fiddlers use the entire length of the bow, and improvise without departing significantly from the melody line.
The Fiddle Fest begins Friday with a concert luncheon. Friday afternoon is a great time to visit the Llano County Museum’s history and antique instruments exhibit (open throughout the Fest), or take in some of the spectacular fields of wildflowers near Llano. You’ll find vistas of bluebonnets and paintbrush along Highway 16 south from Llano, and the Willow City Loop is just 30 miles away. Be sure you’re back in Llano when Friday evening’s festival fun continues with Air Fiddle and the Anything Goes – Tricks & Licks Contest.
Saturday, great fiddlers from across Texas and beyond will compete all day for prizes in the Llano Open Fiddle Contest at the historic LanTex. Fiddlers compete in one of three divisions: Youth (ages 0-15), Legends (ages 65 and above), and Open (any age). The Contest culminates with the top 5 championship playoffs, followed by a Saturday evening concert at the Theater.
The Fest concludes with more fiddle music at a Sunday morning service and Texas-style chuck wagon breakfast. Visit the Fest website for additional information and a video of a previous Fest. Additional pictures and videos are posted on their Facebook page.
Don’t miss this festival that celebrates spring with a special style of old time fiddling across the generations. Mustard Seed Bed & Breakfast on the Llano is perfect lodging choice, less than a half-mile from any of the Fest venues, in the heart of Bluebonnet country. Just go online to reserve your stay. A Texas Hill Country feast for your ears and eyes awaits you.
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
