A Salute to the Fiddlers

As a native son, every year I look forward to returning to my hometown of Galax, Virginia, to enjoy the Galax Old-time Fiddlers Convention.

This year is the 75^th anniversary of the beginning of this mountain music festival sponsored by the Galax Moose Lodge during the second week in August.

As always, hundreds of musicians and thousands of fans converge from all parts of the United States and beyond to spend all or part of the week at Felts Park in downtown Galax, listening, playing, singing and/or dancing to music handed down from family to family and friend to friend. Much of the music originated in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, but some comes from Scotland, Ireland and other parts of the U.S. Country and bluegrass music legends like Kyle Creed and Roger Sprung have made Galax the place to be this year from August 8 to August 15. See www.oldfiddlersconvention.com

One perennial favorite is New York’s Roger Sprung, who sings, plays and makes instruments to sell in Galax and beyond. Charles Kuralt once recorded his On the Road show from Galax during the Fiddlers’ Convention.

Singers, dancers, vocalists, bands, fiddlers, banjo pickers and guitar players converge on Galax with the hope of making a name for themselves in one of the largest and oldest mountain music festivals in the South.

If one needs a respite from the crowds and/or the weather he can drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway that winds through the mountains near the North Carolina-Virginia border. Beautiful forests, picnic areas and look-outs are sprinkled throughout the mountains.

Thanks to Bruce Wingo and Norfolk Southern Railroad, each year General Assembly members and families are invited to spend one or two nights in a nearby mountain lodge enjoying hiking, fishing, swimming and sunning within several miles of the music in Galax. Because it is an important anniversary year, I hope we will see friends from Northern Virginia who have decided spend the weekend in Galax or nearby towns and villages to enjoy Virginia hospitaliy and mountain music at its finest.

Delegate Scott represents the 53rd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. He may be emailed at deljscott@aol.com