On the fourth Sunday of every August, the old elms of South Park in downtown Lawrence, Kansas, fill with something that sounds like the state's collective memory. Banjos chatter under the branches, fiddles saw through waltzes and reels, mandolins sparkle in the afternoon heat, and circles of strangers who have just met sit cross-legged in the grass, trading tunes as if they had known each other for decades. This is FidPick — the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships — a free, volunteer-run celebration of traditional American acoustic music that has been part of Lawrence's late-summer rhythm for nearly half a century.
The 45th annual edition takes place Sunday, August 23, 2026, from noon to 5 p.m. at South Park, and it will be headlined by Dom Flemons, the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist and founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Flemons, who calls himself an "American Songster," is foremost a banjo player, and his work has helped resurrect the African influence and presence in American roots music. He will take the Doug DuBois Harmony Stage at 3:30 p.m., capping an afternoon of nine competitions, food trucks, art vendors, family activities and the impromptu jam circles that have always been the event's true heart.
FidPick's story begins not in a concert hall but in the bicentennial summer of 1976, when Lawrence was swept up in the national celebration of America's 200th birthday. That July, a county-resident-only competition called the Douglas County Fiddling and Picking Championships was organized by longtime volunteer Gloria Throne, underwritten in part by the Kansas Arts Commission. The original vision was grander than a single county contest: organizers dreamed of every Kansas county running a similar competition, with the winners converging on a state-level championship. The event returned in 1977 with the intention of becoming an annual affair, and for a few years the dream of a statewide network seemed within reach. But by 1981, the hope of spreading the contest to all 105 counties had become increasingly unrealistic. Rather than abandon the idea, the organizers simply shrugged and said, "It might as well be us." And so the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships was born, moved to the end of August, where it has remained ever since.
What began as a single stage with five contests has grown into a two-stage festival with nine competitions and professional concerts from local, regional and national acts. The event's own history describes it as resembling a reunion: musicians from across Kansas and beyond form circles for impromptu jamming under the trees, former contestants return as concert performers, and some competitors are the second or third generation of their family to take the stage. Fans gather by the hundreds, sometimes thousands, to cheer on friends and relatives. Luthiers display handcrafted instruments along the park paths, community groups offer family-friendly activities, and food and drink vendors line the edges of the park.
The event is run entirely by volunteers. FidPick, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, and no one on its board of directors receives a paycheck. It survives on donations and sponsorships from local businesses and individuals; a contribution of $100 or more earns a name in the program as an official "Friend of FidPick." The mission, as stated on the organization's website, is "to provide a platform for the preservation, participation and promotion of traditional acoustic music."
The two stages themselves carry their own stories. The north stage, the Doug DuBois Harmony Stage, is Stage 7, from the Walnut Valley Festival's infamous Pecan Grove. The south stage, Stage2Go, is provided courtesy of the Link family.
The connection to Winfield runs deep. The winner of the Kansas State String Band competition earns the title of Kansas State String Band of the Year and an opportunity to perform at the Walnut Valley Festival in September. Many area bluegrass musicians view FidPick's Sunday as a tune-up for that larger festival, and the two events share a similar spirit — a place where the line between audience and performer blurs, and where the real music often happens offstage, in the shade.
The competitions themselves are a study in the breadth of American acoustic tradition. On the contest stage, the afternoon unfolds in half-hour blocks: the youth and open fiddle competition at noon, banjo at 1 p.m., mandolin at 1:30, fingerstyle guitar at 2, and flatpick guitar at 2:30. On the harmony stage, the miscellaneous acoustic competition opens the day, followed by the string band competition's first round and finals, and then the featured concert. All times are approximate, organizers warn, because they depend on the number of contestants — a reminder that this is a competition first and a festival second, and that the schedule bends to the musicians. In 2025, a rule change took effect for the state fiddle championship: each contestant now plays two tunes, a waltz and a tune of their choice.
The event has also learned to plan for Kansas weather, which organizers have long joked they schedule for the hottest day of the year. If significant rain threatens, the committee monitors radar and announces a decision by 11 a.m. If the weather is expected to clear, the contest is delayed an hour; if rain is expected to persist, the event moves indoors, with the concert and band contest relocating to the Granada Theater and the individual contests to Lucia, both on Massachusetts Street.
For all its growth, FidPick remains what it has always been: a grassroots gathering where the music is the point, and where the community that makes it is the reward. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets, lawn chairs and, above all, instruments — because the real championship, many would argue, happens in the jam circles that form spontaneously under the trees, where a fiddler from Wichita and a banjo player from Topeka find a common tune and, for a few minutes, the whole state is in harmony. On August 23, 2026, that tradition will continue for a 45th year, free to all, kept alive by volunteers, donors and the simple, stubborn belief that traditional American acoustic music is worth preserving, participating in and passing on.