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Fiddlin' Explores Galax's Long History of Bluegrass and Old Time Music

Sicily Publicity

The Old Fiddler’s Convention in Galax just wrapped up its 84th annual event last month. It’s the oldest such musical event in the world and is the subject of a new documentary.

The celebration of Bluegrass and Old Time music in Galax first began in 1935 and has grown steadily ever since. While the event has long been covered on local television, film crews have never been allowed to document it.

That is until just a few years ago for the convention’s 80th anniversary.

Vicki Vlasic and her sister Julie Simone grew up in Hillsville – just a few miles from Galax – and regularly attended the event as kids.

Vlasic says they wanted Fiddlin’ to capture the community they grew up in:

“One of the things that we noticed living in, her in Los Angeles, myself in the Detroit area, was that people weren’t really familiar with this culture and the traditions they have there," she explains. "I would say words like flatfooting and clogging and people looked at me like I was making up these words.”

Other film crews from outside the area had approached the convention’s organizers before, but weren’t allowed in.

“And I think when they took it back and they took a vote on it, having that local connection made a big difference,” Vlasic says.

And now the film is set for a theatrical release in cities across the country, with one of the first stops in Galax.

You can find information about local screenings here.

Nick Gilmore is a meteorologist, news producer and reporter/anchor for RADIO IQ.