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. Proof of age may be requested.
  5. 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.
  6. Should an accident, beyond the performer's control occur, he/she will be allowed to start the entire performance again.
  7. Prize winning contestants who are tied must repeat their entire performance. Rule No. 2 will apply.
  8. 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 15 minutes prior to the start of the class.
  9. 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.
  10. Open Fiddle and Open Stepdance Classes are reserved for contestants with advanced skill and the committee reserves the right to monitor eligibility.

    11. Special Note:
    1. Finalists and Winners must perform Saturday Night to receive prize winnings.
    2. No written music is to be used by the fiddle competitor 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 will be allowed a maximum of three tempo changes in their music 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. All dancers may choose their own fiddler. A house fiddler will be available for those who do not have their own. No records, CD's or tapes allowed.
  5. To qualify as a junior group the average age must be under 13 years. (i.e. Divide total ages of dancers by the number of dancers in the group. -e.g. 12.7 or 12.8 years etc. is considered 12 & under)
  6. Three or more dancers make a group. No dancer may compete in more than one group.
  7. Contestants will be judged on the following: timing, precision of steps, quality of steps,variety of steps, and showmanship.
Fiddle Rules
  1. Solo contestants: Open,65 and over, 50-64, 19-49, 18 and under, and 12 and under contestants must play a waltz, a jig and a reel in that order (Canadian style). *All Duet Fiddle contestants must play two tunes of choice in harmony and with different tempos. 9 and under contestants must play one tune of choice only. Open Fiddle Class finalists must play a waltz, jig, reel and a fiddle tune of choice in the Saturday evening finals within a time limit of five minutes.
  2. Contestants must complete their tunes within four minutes. Open Class Fiddle finalists competing on Saturday evening are allowed five minutes. No judging will take place after this time.
  3. Each contestant will be allowed the choice of one instrument for accompaniment. A standby piano accompanist will be available.
  4. Judging will be based on the following: tone, overall accuracy, timing and tempo.
    Special Note: The five finalists in the Open Fiddle are not allowed to play the same tunes in the finals as they played on the Friday Night

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