Steve Luper, of Andover, finds a place away from the busy stages to warm up before competing in the flat picking guitar event at the annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships held Sunday afternoon in South Park.

Beneath the branches of redbud and dogwood trees at South Park on Sunday, musicians waiting to take the stage at the 35th Kansas State Fiddling & Picking Championships plucked at the strings of their guitars and banjos or set bows to their fiddles.

Hundreds of spectators surrounded the two stages in arched rows, seated in a colorful assortment of lawn and camping chairs or on blankets, for the free concerts and competitions that spanned the afternoon.

Beneath one tree, Wyatt Walder, 8, of Topeka, practiced his fiddle while his dad played the guitar. Both wore plaid shirts, boots and cowboy hats, and Wyatt’s shirt collar was synched with a white handkerchief. Wyatt, who was competing for his first time in youth fiddle, said he has been playing since he was 5.

“When I was little, I would listen to ‘Riders in the Sky’ — that’s a cowboy band — on the computer, and that just made me want to play,” he said.

Competitions were in eight categories: finger style and flat pick guitar, open fiddle, banjo, mandolin, miscellaneous acoustic instruments, ensemble folk singing and youth fiddle.

Matt Kirby, who first participated in the event as a contestant in 1983, has in the decades since also been a judge and performer. This year, Kirby was an emcee, introducing each contestant as they took the stage. Kirby said it’s great to see a lot of the same people come back every year, as well as some new faces.

“Every year it has its own character — it has its own personality — but it’s always a gracious gathering,” Kirby said, noting the event attracts people of lots of backgrounds who have come together to celebrate and create music. “It gives you a chance to rub elbows with people you wouldn’t necessarily meet everyday.”

Both young and old take the stage, playing two songs apiece for spectators and judges. Kirby said one of his favorite things about the event is the creativity of the musicians.

“The instruments are few in number, but the approaches are many,” he said.

Tricia Lyons, of Vinland, said she has been coming to the event off-and-on for the past 20 years to listen to the competitors and performers.

“There will always be some authentic old-time music,” she said. “The competitors are serious, and it brings people in from out of town.”

This year’s event brought about 70 competitors and approximately 1,800 spectators, said Gayle Sigurdson, the event coordinator. Sigurdson said that looking forward, the youth participation is important.

“We worry about if we’re all getting too old for this, but every year we see new young people — there are 13 in the youth fiddle this year,” she said.

As part of the competition, a special youth award, designed to encourage young people to pursue traditional music, is presented each year to an outstanding musician under the age of 16.

“That’s part of our goal, to keep fostering the next generation, they’ll step in and take over when it’s time,” Sigurdson said.

Ashley Powell, who has lived in Lawrence since 2008, was at the event for her first time Sunday. Powell said she was there to listen to the music and that the event is a good representation of the city’s character.

“All of these events that we have definitely represent that,” she said. “It’s an eclectic crowd. It’s typical Lawrence: so many people, and we’re all welcome in the same space.”

WINNERS LIST

Misc. Acoustic Instruments

First place: Dave Hooge, Lawrence

Second place: Bruce Johnson, Wichita

Ensemble Folksinging

First place: Salt and Saltier, Lawrence and Kansas City

Second place: Wakarusa River Band, Omaha, Neb.

Youth Fiddle

First place: Glenn Sigler, Joplin, Mo.

Second place: Beth Davis, Carbondale, Ill.

Third place: Edith Sigler, Joplin, Mo.

Open fiddle

First place: Shane Borth, Olathe

Second place: David Kaemmer, Shawnee

Third place: Tim Daniels, Leavenworth

Banjo

First place: Ken Plummer, Augusta

Second place: Matt Oliphant, Chanute

Flatpick Guitar

First place: Efam Plummer, Augusta

Second place: Julian Davis, Pittsburg

Third place: Ken Plummer, Augusta

Mandolin

First place: Bethany Waldy, Maple Hill

Fingerstyle Guitar

First place: Luke Paul, Lawrence

Second place: Julian Davis, Pittsburg

Third place: Jim Krause, Lawrence

Youth Award

Isaac Durst, Lebo