The Berlin Fiddlers Convention is set to return Sept. 20-22 to the downtown area for its 32nd year of music, crafts and vendors.
Crowds are pictured at a past Berlin Fiddlers Convention downtown.
File photo
By Tara Fischer, Staff Writer
The Berlin Fiddlers Convention is set to be return this week for its 32nd year of music, crafts and vendors.
The convention, scheduled for Sept. 20-22, is a free event hosted by the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and features a weekend of bluegrass bands. On Friday, the first day of the series will welcome The Plate Scrapers from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., followed by The High and Wides from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
A competition in banjo, fiddle, mandolin, flat pick, and band categories is slated for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday’s headliner, Rebecca Frazier, will perform from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event will wrap up around 4:30 p.m. A Sunday gospel jam is also planned for Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the weekly farmers market on Main Street.
Local beer will be available for purchase during the weekend. Proceeds from the sales will help support the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and its events.
Berlin’s shops will be open during the music weekend, and vendors and artisans will be out as attendees enjoy the bluegrass tunes.
The event is chock-full of musical talent.
Friday’s performers, The High and Wides, were born on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Their 2018 freshman album, “Lifted,” deputed on the Billboard bluegrass chart in the top ten, The Maryland State Arts Council’s website says.
According to The Plate Scraper’s website, the band originated in 2014 in Western Maryland and has since released three studio and three live albums. In 2019, the group won the Podunk Bluegrass Telefunken Band Contest. The crew has spent the ten years since its creation touring throughout the East Coast and Midwest.
Saturday’s headline, Frazier, is a Virginia native. Her most recent album, “Boarding Windows in Paradise,” was released on Friday, Sept. 13, on Compass Records.
Additional information on the Berlin Fiddlers Convention can be found on the Berlin Chamber of Commerce’s website.