Rules

General Rules
  1. Contestants may enter one solo Fiddle Class, one solo Stepdance Class, one Duet Fiddle Class and one Group Stepdance Class.
  2. Contestants must be ready to perform when called.
  3. All judges decisions are final.
  4. To qualify as a Jr. Group Stepdance the average age must be under 13 years. (i.e. Divide the total ages of competitors by the number of participants in the group. For example, 12.7 or 12.8 etc. is considered 12 and under).
  5. Proof of age may be requested.
  6. Any contestant having won first prize in any one class for 3 consecutive years will not be eligible to compete in that or any lower class in the 4th year.
  7. Should an accident, beyond the performer's control occur, he/she will be allowed to start the entire performance again.
  8. Prize winning contestants who are tied must repeat their entire performance. Rule No. 2 will apply.
  9. Contestant registrations are considered confidential. Performers must draw for position upon arrival. For continuity of the program the registration committee reserves the right to draw for competitor's position when necessary.
  10. If only enough contestants register to fill the number of finalists' positions in any class, the rankings/scores from the preliminary and final performances will be combined to decide the winning positions.
  11. Open Fiddle and Open Stepdance Classes are reserved for contestants with advanced skill and the committee reserves the right to monitor eligibility.

    12. Special Note:
    1. Finalists and First Prize Winners must perform Saturday Night to receive prize winnings.
    2. No written music is to be used by fiddle competitors on stage.
    3. Competitors for youngest fiddler trophy will have to play an entire recognizable fiddle tune.
    4. Competitors for youngest dancer trophy will have to independently execute formulated steps.

Stepdance Rules
  1. Solo Contestants must dance a clog, jig, reel, in that order, without stopping. Contestants in 9 and under, 12 and under, 19 to 49 and 50 and over classes must dance a reel only. Contestants in Group Dancing may use any step dancing routine, not necessarily a clog, jig, reel.
  2. Finalists in the Open Stepdance class on Saturday evening can use a maximum of three tempo changes of their choice with no restrictions. A clog, jig and reel does meet this criteria, however creativity is encouraged.
  3. Solo contestants must complete their dance within four minutes. Maximum time for Group Dancing is five minutes.
  4. Contestants in all of the dance classes must use a fiddler with either a piano or guitar as accompaniment. A house fiddler and pianist will be available.
  5. Three or more dancers make a group. No dancer may compete in more than one group.
  6. Contestants will be judged on the following: timing, precision of steps, quality of steps,variety of steps, and showmanship.
Fiddle Rules
  1. All fiddle contestants must play their tunes in Canadian Style with the exception of the Tune of Choice in the Open Fiddle finals.
  2. Contestants in the Open, 65 and over, 50 to 64, 19 to 49, 16 to 18, 13 to 15, and 12 and under classes must play a waltz, a jig and a reel in that order within four minutes. The 9 & under contestants must play one tune; either a waltz, a jig or a reel. In the Saturday evening finals Open Fiddle Class finalists must play a different waltz, jig and reel from their preliminary performance as well as a fiddle tune of choice within a time limit of five minutes. All duet fiddle contestants must play two tunes of choice in harmony with different tempos.
  3. All competing fiddlers will be allowed the choice of either a piano or guitar for accompaniment. A standby piano accompanist will be available.
  4. Judging will be based on the following: tone, overall accuracy, timing and tempo.

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