Instrument Contest tickets for can be purchased HERE starting at 10am MT January 12th, 2023 (you can buy one when you buy your festival ticket!).

Each entry is $15. Contestants may enter multiple categories.

Only (12) tickets will be sold per instrument.

Since the contests are held inside the festival grounds, all contestants must have either a 3-day pass or single-day tickets for Saturday (the preliminary round) and Sunday (final round). If this is a problem for your band, please call our office at 800-624-2422. We may be able to help.

Preliminary Round - Friday, July 28

Wildflower Pavilion (inside the Festival grounds)

• Banjo - 11:30am
• Flatpick Guitar - 1:00pm
• Mandolin - 2:30pm
• Fiddle - 4:00pm
• Dobro - 5:30pm

Final Round (Top 3 Contestants) - Saturday, July 29

Festival Main Stage

• Banjo - 10:45am
• Flatpick Guitar - 10:30am
• Mandolin - 10:45am
• Fiddle - 11:00am
• Dobro - 11:15am

Final times are subject to change

• Each competition is limited to 12 registered contestants.
• On the day of the preliminary round (Friday, July 28), contestants must check-in with the contest staff in the Wildflower Pavilion at least 1 hour before their contest is scheduled to begin.
• Time limit is 3 minutes per song. The judges will mark you down if selections significantly exceed the time limit.
• Contestants plays 2 songs in the preliminary round and 2 songs in the final round if finishing in the top three.
• Repeats of preliminary songs are not allowed in the finals.
• One backup musician is allowed. No electric instruments or pickups allowed. Performers at the Festival or RockyGrass Academy instructors may not perform as backup musicians.
• The contest is judged ”in the blind”; i.e. judges will not be in the audience.
• Contestants who have previously won a contest may not enter that contest again.
• The contestant order will be randomly assigned prior to each round.
• In the event of a tie or virtual tie, the judges as a group will be allowed discretion to come to a consensus regarding the winner(s). A virtual tie is defined as total scores within 5 points of each other. Judges may need to confer to ensure fairness and consistency in the rating process.

• 50% Overall Ability (includes difficulty, expression, material selection, taste, execution)
• 25% Rhythm
• 25% Tone

This year’s instrument contest showcased another dazzling display of virtuosity in the Wildflower Pavilion and the finals on the main stage. Congrats to all the 2022 finalists:

Banjo

• 1st place: Liam Purcell (Deep Gap, NC)
• 2nd place: Hastings Traficanti (Denver, CO)
  
• 3rd place: Elijah Donovan (Longmont, CO)

Flatpick Guitar

• 1st place: Liam Purcell (Deep Gap, NC)
• 2nd place: Michael Furry (Littleton, CO)
• 3rd place: Charlie Stevens (Fort Collins, CO)
  

Mandolin

• 1st place: Liam Purcell (Deep Gap, NC)
• 2nd place: Jack Dunlevie (Longmont, CO)
• 3rd place: David Pailet (Denver, CO)

Fiddle

• 1st place: Roberta Rast (Dallas, TX)
• 2nd place: Blake Ritter (Eureka, CA)
• 3rd place: Andy Reiner (Black Hawk, CO)

Dobro

• 1st place: Chris Herbst (Boulder, CO)
• 2nd place: Dylan Kober (Denver, CO)
• 3rd place: Josh Hight (Salt Lake City, UT)