For over 50 years, the Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering has attracted old-time music fans to Battle Ground, Indiana, for a weekend of concerts, workshops and jam sessions. This week on Cultural Manifesto, listen to interviews with musicians and organizers connected to the festival, including Dave Samuelson, Cliff Harrison, and fiddle player Stephanie Coleman. 

Coleman began performing at the Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering as a child. Along with her musical partner Nora Brown, she’s one of the headliners at this year’s festival. You might have seen their recent performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk. 

The Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering began in 1972. Back then, it wasn’t a festival, just a loose circle of musicians and friends gathering under the trees at the Tippecanoe Battlefield, to share their love of old-time fiddle music. What began as a casual gathering of local fiddlers has grown into a nationally respected festival featuring a wide range of American roots music and international fiddle styles, including bluegrass, jazz, Creole, Irish, Mexican, and Scandinavian fiddlers. 

Over the years, the Indiana Fiddlers Gathering has hosted celebrated names in traditional music, including Mike Seeger, John Hartford, Johnny Gimble, Jethro Burns and many others. It also gave early exposure to future stars like Alison Krauss and Chris Thile, who performed at the festival as teenagers.