Athens Old Fiddlers Foundation

10/07/2026

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10/07/2026

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The Western Flyers

09/30/2026

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🚨FIDDLE CONTEST ALERT 🚨 This Saturday, Oct 3rd, is the Chicken & Bread Days Fiddle Contest in Bowie, TX at the Fire Hall!

This contest is a fan & fiddlers favorite. There's great fiddlin' under the cover of the Fire Hall, there's a car show & vendors of all kinds out on the street, and there's an epic jam at The Hall hosted by Lois & Ray Harris afterwards. If you're curious what fiddle contests are all about, this is one you should check out!

At the contest, we'll also have t-shirts, hats, stickers and a limited amount of crocheted chickens made by Katie Elmore for sale - all proceeds go back to TOTFA to support more events.

As usual, details about the contest & prize money are listed in the order of play at TOTFA.org

09/23/2026

Interesting facts about our 9 banded Dillo's!

Nobody in Texas has ever successfully explained the armadillo to an out of state visitor. 🦡 You start with the armor, move on to the fact that it is not a rodent, admit that it is related to the sloth and the anteater, and by then you have lost them completely.

They are nearly blind, they have a terrible sense of anything coming, and they dig like it is a personal calling. Anyone who has walked out at sunrise to find their yard turned over in neat conical holes knows exactly what happened overnight. They were not being malicious. They were after grubs, they found grubs, and your St Augustine was simply in the way.

The famous jump is the sad part. Startle one and it launches straight up, which works beautifully against a coyote and works not at all against the bumper of a pickup, which is why so many of the ones we see are on the shoulder. They are not native here originally either. They walked up out of Mexico across the Rio Grande in the 1800s and just kept going, and now they are as Texan as anything else that showed up and stayed. 🌵

09/22/2026

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Calling all Youth fiddlers!!! Marsha Whaley is hosting a new fiddle contest Oct 17th in Burleson, TX in memory of her beautiful daughter, Neah.
Neah was a fantastic fiddler with a wonderful sunshiney smile and sweet soul who was taken from us too soon. 💐
At this contest, youth fiddlers of all levels are welcome, and we encourage participation from contest novices, or anyone who's competed before but not won. We hope a few new faces will turn up with the fiddle bug and keep on playing whatever the results turn out to be! 🎻♥️
Edit: just clarifying that this is not a TOTFA contest, so please contact Marsha for details :)

09/18/2026

Our new outstanding logo for the 96th on the

09/17/2026

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We love to showcase rising young fiddlers like the amazing 🔥🎻MCKENNA PETERSEN!🔥🎻
(and we love to spell their names correctly too!! Sorry for the earlier typo and thanks to those who caught it!! 😉🙏)

The 12th Annual Festival of Texas Fiddling is Dec 4-5-6, 2026 at Twin Sisters Dance Hall, 6 miles south of Blanco, Texas!

3 Stages of music, ALL DAY dancing in the hall, and big dances on Friday and Saturday night 💃💃🏻💃🏼

Texas two step workshops with the immortal John Luper!
+ huapango workshop with Carlos Salazar
+instrument workshops with performers on different styles of Texas fiddling, son jarocho fiddle, bajo sexto, guitar, &...

Full festival weekend tickets are only $60! 🔥🎻 Tickets available at https://www.texasfiddle.org/tickets-1

Friday Night Dance with The Western Flyers

Saturday Night Dance with Jake Penrod

Featuring:
Brian Marshall
Jesse Lege
Belen Escobedo y Panfilo’s Güera
Luke Bulla
Jason Andrew
Katie Shore
Brittany Haas
Bruce Molsky
Valerie Ryals
Howard Rains, Tricia Spencer & The Lost Keys
Wes Westmoreland
Luke Moody
Caimanes USA
Max Baca
Santiago Jimenez, Jr.
Rabbit Sanchez
Mark Halata and Texavia
Mark Rubin
Alex Meixner
Epi y Cruz Martinez
Josh Baca and Hunter Chavez
Frutty Villarreal
Zeth Lara & Aaron Salinas
Steward Family Band
Tristan Paskvan
Brian O’Donnell
Daniel Ullom
Dan & Christy Foster
Luke Moody
Mason Ludiker
Anthony Mature
Los Tremendos Barbaros

09/10/2026

Our official mascot, Bow Fiddley, just can't stand still when music plays! 😂 Whether he’s dancing, making new friends, or helping us celebrate one of Texas’ great musical traditions, Bow is always ready for a good time!

As we continue The Road to 100, you’ll be seeing plenty more of Bow representing the Athens Old Fiddlers Reunion & Contest and the Athens Old Fiddlers Foundation. 💚⭐

How would you rate Bow Fiddley’s dance moves from 1 to 10? 😂🎶