ATHENS-The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention has 
been named the home to Alabama State Champions for certain contests held yearly on the Athens State University campus. The Alabama State Champion categories include Harmonica, Bluegrass Banjo, Dulcimer, Old Time Banjo, Classic Old-time Fiddler, Buck Dancing, Mandolin, Dobro, Old-time Singing, Guitar – Finger Picking, Guitar – Flat Picking, Bluegrass Band, and Bluegrass Old-time Band.
Approximately 150 booths featuring old-fashioned arts and crafts are part of the convention. Convention goers will see everything from traditional artwork to coal-fired metal works.
Contests begin on Friday, October 4th at 7 p.m., and will resume on Saturday, October 5th at 8 a.m. Cost is $8 for Friday, $10 for Saturday and $15 for both days. Children ages 12 and under are free with a parent.
This year Gary Nichols and the SteelDrivers will be the Entertainment headliners and will perform Saturday, October 5 
at 5:00 p.m. on the stage in front of Founders Hall on the campus of Athens State University.
Muscle Shoals native Gary Nichols is one of many great Muscle Shoals songwriting performers. In 2003 he signed with Mercury Records and returned to north Alabama, signed a songwriting deal with Fame Music and resumed his busy session schedule. When the SteelDrivers asked him to join them, Nichols threw his hat in the ring and hasn’t looked back. Since the release of The SteelDrivers in 2008 and Reckless in 2010, The SteelDrivers have been nominated for three Grammys, four IBMA awards and the Americana Music Association’s New Artist of the Year. They were presented the International Bluegrass Music Association’s award for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2009. They have been invited to perform on numerous radio and TV shows ranging from The Grand Ole Opry to NPR’s Mountain Stage to the Conan O’Brien show.
This year’s special guest will be musical comedian Mike Snider performing Friday, October 4th at 4:00p.m. and 6:00 
p.m. Snider, a native of Gleason, Tennessee, made his way on the country music scene in the 1980’s with his incomparable wit and stellar banjo playing. Mike first worked his way into people’s hearts through his hundreds of spots on TNN’s Nashville Now, and his seven-year stay in the cornfield on “Hee Haw”. In addition to his television work, Mike and his band entertained crowds for seven years at Nashville’s Opryland USA.
The Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention is known as the “Granddaddy of Midsouth Fiddlers Conventions” for its role in reviving the tradition of competition in old time music. Approximately 15,000 attend the annual convention from almost all of the states. The convention brings some 200 contestants to compete for top prize money in 18 different categories.
For the third time, the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention has been honored as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events. The event also received this tribute in 2003 and 2007.
The Southeastern Tourism Society feels that each festival or event in the South represents a special piece of our culture and heritage and has been naming Top 20 Events since 1983.
