This past weekend the 2026 Kentucky State Fiddle Championship was held at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, KY. Trophies were awarded in four categories for fiddlers, as well as an overall champ, and for banjo, mandolin, guitar, and dance.
The competition began to award a state fiddle champion in 1975, when contest organizer Jodie Hall received recognition from the Governor of Kentucky, John Brown, making his event the official state competition for fiddle, dance, and other acoustic stringed instruments. It was initially held in July at Rough River Dam State Resort Park, with the winner taking a silver bowl known as the Governor’s Cup.
2015 saw the championship go inactive, until it was revived in cooperation with the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, who give it its new home, hosting the contest in March there in Owensboro.
Past winners include luminaries like Mark O’Connor, Daniel Carwile, Maddie Denton, and Jimmy Mattingly, plus fiddle contest sensation J. T Perkins.
2026 winners include:
- 2026 Kentucky State Fiddle Champion: Bubba Hopkins – Spavinaw, OH ($250 prize)
- Junior Junior Fiddle: Kadence Edgington – Nashville, TN ($350 prize)
- Junior Fiddle: Sarah Hathaway – Bowling Green, KY ($350 prize)
- Adult Fiddle: Bubba Hopkins – Spavinaw, OK ($350 prize)
- Senior Fiddle: Junior Marriott – Marshfield, MO ($350 prize)
- Old-Time Banjo: Tyler Andal – Nashville, TN ($200 prize)
- Bluegrass Banjo: Anthony Howell – Kosciusko, MS ($200 prize)
- Flatpick Guitar: Adam Wright – Goodlettsville, TN ($200 prize)
- Mandolin: Tyler Andal – Nashville, TN ($200 prize)
- Dancing: Elizabeth Clark – Barren Plains, TN ($100 prize)
- Old-Time Singing: Mary Parker – Mountain View, AR ($200 prize)
Congratulations and well done to all the winners!
