2024 Galax Youth winners

Creekwater Collective competing at the 2024 Old Fiddlers Convention – photo © G Nicholas Hancock

116 individual contestants between the ages of three and fifteen, and 17 youth bands registered to participate in the 88^th annual Old Fiddlers Convention Youth Competition on Monday, August 5, at Felts Park in Galax, VA.

Youth Competition is for contestants 15 years or younger, with categories including old-time fiddle, bluegrass fiddle, mandolin, clawhammer banjo, bluegrass banjo, guitar, and band.

Winners were announced and awards were presented beginning shortly before 11:00 p.m. on Monday. In addition to the ribbon rosettes awarded, each first-place winner in each individual instrument category received a $250.00 scholarship provided by the Don Wilson Memorial Scholarship Fund and Galax Moose Lodge #733. The scholarships must be used for music classes, workshops, or private lessons.

Winners announced Monday night were:

Old time fiddle

1. Sam Wilkerson – Lowgap, NC
2. Cheyenne Grantham – Boones Mill, VA
3. Sylvie Davis – Leicester, NC
4. Silas Wilkerson – Lowgap, NC
5. Liam Farley – Chapmanville, WV 

Bluegrass fiddle

1. Alexander Ferranti – Raleigh, NC
2. Lucy Smith – Johnson City, TN
3. Agnes Caudell – Asheville, NC
4. Shawn Ripple – Pilot Mountain, NC
5. Asa Robertson – Norfolk, VA

Mandolin

1. Sarah Rose Norris – Millers Creek, NC
2. Blane Young – Roanoke, VA
3. Jace Roberts – Galax, VA
4. Logan Harrison – Claudeville, VA
5. Hollace Oakes – Snowville, VA

Clawhammer banjo

1. Margo MacSweeney – Floyd, VA
2. Silas Lowe – Mountain Park, NC
3. Wren Hello – Floyd, VA
4. Everly Davis – Leicester, NC
5. Mason Hayden – Ivanhoe, VA

Bluegrass banjo

1. River Smith – Johnson City, TN
2. Levi Lindblom – Bloomingdale, GA
3. Malachi Bulman – Pinnacle, NC
4. Ayden Chappell – Pumpkintown, SC
5. Josiah Wilkerson – Lowgap, NC

Guitar

1. Lilly Anne Svrlinga – Pickens, SC
2. Croft Wilson – Yulee, FL
3. Tae Childress – Statesville, NC
4. Brayden Ramey – Galax, VA
5. Berkley Stewart – Saltville, VA

Band

1. Carolina Detour – Pinnacle, NC
2. Denim and Plaid – Saltville, VA
3. Creekwater Collective – Pickens, SC
4. The Mashed Potatoes – Bloomingdale, GA
5. The Biscuit Eaters – Lowgap, NC

Best All Around Performer and Don Wilson Memorial Award: Alexander Ferranti – Raleigh, NC