Registration Fee

• Adults: $15 per individual contestant for early registration. ($20 day-of registration)
• Youth (16 and under): $10 per individual contestant
• Band Contest: $10 per member of group

Please note: an individual may enter the Miscellaneous Acoustic Instruments contest only once per year; in other words, the contestant may not enter multiple times with different instruments.

Instrument Contest Prizes

• 1st place: $150 guaranteed plus sum of all entry fees and a trophy.*
• 2nd place: Certificate
• 3rd place: Certificate
• All youth entries receive a certificate of participation.

*For example, if 5 contestants enter, winner would received $150 PLUS $75 (5x$15)

ONLINE Registration closes at noon Saturday, the day before the event. (You can still register day-of in person, see below)

DAY-OF REGISTRATION

For 2025, if you are unable to register online, instrument contest registration will be accepted in-person, on the day of the event up to 40 minutes before the scheduled contest time. NOTE: Due to logistics for 2025 the fiddle contest has been bumped up to 12:30 pm.

Band contest registration will be open approximately 60 days prior to event. 8 bands will be accepted. 

Order of appearance for both instrument contests and band contest will be determined randomly shortly before the contest begins. Contestants are responsible for checking with the stage manager for their position in the contest. Second and third place prizes are not given if there are too few entries. Judges score cards will not be revealed.

Band Contest Prize

• 1st place: Certificate naming band as KS State Band of the Year, trophy, $500 cash, festival passes to the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, KS and the opportunity to play the Champions Circle stage on the Wednesday prior to the festival in Winfield, KS, always the third weekend of September.*

* winning band gets opportunity to play in Champions Showcase Concert at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025. FidPick Contest Director must notify Walnut Valley Festival immediately if the band intends to take part in the Champions Concert. Walnut Valley Festival will provide tickets to each member of this years winning group. This does not include camping fees.