The first weekend of Denver’s National Western Stock Show sees fiddlers from across the state and around the nation descend on the city to prove their mastery at the Colorado Fiddle Championships.
The musicians mingle with cowboys and livestock, as they warm up in a corner behind the sheep in the junior barn. The competition itself is right next door, in the Beef Palace Auction arena.
Erin Haas, president of the Colorado Old Time Fiddlers Association, the group that runs the contest, says they’ve been holding the fiddle championships in the same location for more than 20 years.
“Initially we were in the Hall of Education, in a booth, but it was such a popular stop that it was clogging up the rows with everyone watching,” she said. “So then they moved us in here, and we’ve been very comfortable ever since.”…