Winfield, KS -- The 2013 Walnut Valley Festival is over. The flags and tents are coming down. Affectionately known as just "Winfield" by many of the annual attendees, this festival and the national music instrument finals are a highlight of the season. The various instrument competitions are finally over and the winners have been announced. Walnut Valley Festival offers attendees great entertainment and artists but, its probably the most famous for its various national and international instrument championships. Many of those competitions focus on the very instruments found in bluegrass music. Banjo, Flat Pick Guitar, Mandolin, Old-Time Fiddle and more attract musicians from around the globe to compete for the various awards.
Held annually each year on the 3rd weekend in September, the Walnut Valley Festival is the home of the International Autoharp Championship, the International Fingerstyle Guitar, the National Mountain Dulcimer, the National Flat Pick Guitar Championship, the National Hammered Dulcimer Championship and the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship. Other contests held at the Walnut Valley Festival are the National Mandolin Championship and the Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle.
Many of today's top bluegrass artists received early recognition at Walnut Valley, often referred to as just Winfield, for the community of Winfield, Kansas where the the festival takes place. Several "big name" artists today (Mark O'Connor, Alison Krauss, Chris Thile, Peter Ostroushko, to name a few) can point to being a "Winfield winner" in their earlier years.
This year's winners are:
- National Mandolin Championships
- 1st Place Winner: Andy Hatfield from Peoria, IL who took home the Collings MF5 Custom Mandolin provided by Collings Guitars, Inc of Austin, TX
- 2nd Place Winner: Gordon Neidinger of Pittsburg. PA who was awarded the Clark F5 Mandolin provided by Clark Mandolins of Boise, ID
- 3rd Place Winner: J P Shafer of Woodway, TX who captured the Weber Yellowstone “F” Mandolin provided by Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments by Sound to Earth Ltd. of Manhattan, MT
- National Bluegrass Banjo Championships
- 1st Place, William Cockman from Sherrills Ford, NC
- 2nd Place, Sonny Smith from New Market, TN
- 3rd Place, Kyle Tuttle from Nashville, TN
- National Guitar Flat Pick Championships
- 1st Place Winner: Allen Shadd from Lake Wylie, SC who selected the Collings Winfield Model Mahogany/Adirondack Spruce Guitar provided by Collings Guitars Inc of Austin, TX
- 2nd Place Winner: Steve Kaufman from Alcoa, TN who was awarded the Martin D-28 Marquis Guitar with Custom Inlay provided by C.F. Martin & Co. of Nazareth, PA
- 3rd Place Winner: Matt Lindsey from Dunbar, WV who took home the Gallagher 72 Special Guitar provided by J.W. Gallagher & Son of Wartrace, TN
- National Hammer Dulcimer Championships
- 1st Place, Katie Moritz from Sugar Grove, IL
- 2nd Place, Tina Gugeler from Erie, CO
- 3rd Place, Nate Pultorak from Joliet, IL
- Walnut Valley Old Time Fiddle Championships
- 1st Place Winner: Katie Glassman of Denver, CO who selected the Gliga Professional Gama Fiddle represented by Beautiful Music Violin Shop of Lawrence, KS
- 2nd Place Winner: Roger Netherton from St. Louis, MO who was awarded the Mark Wilcox – Stradivari patterned Violin provided by Mark Wilcox Violins of Marion, KS
- 3rd Place Winner: Kian Dye from Portland, OR captured the Akos Balazs Fiddle represented by Beautiful Music Violin Shop of Lawrence, KS
- National Mountain Dulcimer Championships
- 1st Place Winner: Jeff Hames from Madison, MS chose the the 4FHKK Custom Mountain Dulcimer provided by The Dulcimer Shoppe/McSpadden Mountain Dulcimers of Mountain View, AR as his award
- 2nd Place Winner: Nathaniel Samsel of Clarksville, GA took home the 6FHCRB Custom Mountain Dulcimer provided by The Dulcimer Shoppe/McSpadden Mountain Dulcimers of Mountain View, AR
- 3rd Place Winner: Jonathan Dowell of Los Alamos, NM was awarded the 4FGCS Mountain dulcimer provided by The Dulcimer Shoppe/McSpadden Mountain Dulcimers of Mountain View, AR
- Autoharp Winners
- 1st Place Winner: JoAnn Smith of Bartlesville, OK was awarded the dAigle Cascade Super Single Key D Autoharp provided by Pete Daigle of Seatac, WA
- 2nd Place Winner: Cindy Harris from Pittsburgh, PA won an Evoharp Legacy 21 provided by The Dulcimer Shoppe/McSpadden of Mountain View, AR
- 3rd Place Winner: Doug Pratt of Cary, NC captured the Oscar Schmidt OS21C provided by Oscar Schmidt Washburn International of Buffalo Grove, IL
- International Finger Style Guitar Champions
- 1st Place, Mark Cruz from Austin, TX
- 2nd Place, Roger Hardin from Murfreesboro, TN
- 3rd Place, Shohei Toyoda from Japan
from Peoria, IL who took home the Collings MF5 Custom Mandolin provided by Collings Guitars, Inc of Austin, TX/b