NATCHITOCHES – The Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University will present “Fiddlin’ with the Finest! A Celebration of Louisiana Folk Fiddling” Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. at the LSU Rural Life Museum at 4560 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge. The event is free and open to the public. 

Three accomplished Louisiana folk fiddlers, Gina Forsyth, Clancey Stewart and Joe Suchanek, will discuss the importance of the folk fiddling tradition with Dr. Shane Rasmussen, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center and NSU Professor of English. Live music performed throughout the program will include various regional fiddle styles accompanied by demonstrations of fiddle stick playing and twin fiddling. A Q&A session on participating in fiddle competitions will follow. Fiddlers of all skill levels are invited to bring their instruments for a jam session with the invited musicians. 

This year’s Louisiana State Fiddle Championship will take place as part of the 46th annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival. The Championship will be held Saturday, July 18 at 1 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall on the Northwestern State University campus. Fiddlers may compete in the championship or non-championship, as well as in the twin fiddle category. Registration is at noon in the first-floor foyer outside the Magale Recital Hall. The Fiddle Championship winner will perform on the Festival main stage in Prather Coliseum at 5 p.m. 

For more information, call the Louisiana Folklife Center at (318) 357-4332, email folklife@nsula.edu, or go to www.nsula.edu/folklife/. 

The event is sponsored by the LSU Rural Life Museum and the Louisiana Folklife Center. Support for the Festival is provided by grants from the Cane River National Heritage Area, Inc., the Louisiana Division of the Arts Decentralized Arts Fund Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the Natchitoches Convention and Visitors Bureau, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, the Shreveport Regional Arts Council and the State of Louisiana. 

The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.