photo by: Mike Yoder

A group of musicians perform on the Sunflower stage at the 2015 Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships in Lawrence. The event returns this weekend to South Park.

The 38th annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships this Sunday in South Park will offer something new even to the event’s 10-year organizer.

“Have you ever heard Bach or Mozart played on a banjo?” asked Gayle Sigurdson. “We’re going to have the band No Bow Tie, (which) does classical music from composers on acoustic instruments. We’ve never had a classical band before. We always look to have a diversity of traditional music. We’ve had Gypsy music in the past, Western swing and American blues, but it’s all acoustic.”

The contest, which Sigurdson and others organizers call Fidpick, will be from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday in South Park. The music, to be performed on two stages, will feature four bands as well as the stringed instrument and voice competitions, Sigurdson said. Musicians also will entertain themselves and passersby with spontaneous jam sessions throughout the park, she said.

As in the past, food trucks will be parked along the 1100 block of Massachusetts Street and crafts booths will be in the park, Sigurdson said.

Tim Metz, who will take over for Sigurdson as Fidpick coordinator next year, said competing musicians put a lot of stock in the contest.

“There’s a lot of bragging rights with winning the contests,” he said, noting that the competition draws musicians from beyond Kansas.

Over the years, organizers of the state championships and the Americana Music Academy have made Fidpick a three-day event, Sigurdson said. This weekend’s events start Friday with a three-band family concert from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., followed by a three-band concert from 9 p.m. to midnight at Lucia, 1016 Massachusetts St. Those concerts will charge admission.

On Saturday, Americana Music Academy, 1419 Massachusetts St., will have banjo and guitar workshops by artist-in-residence Tony Furtado, a California-based musician who has recorded six albums and is a two-time national banjo champion at the annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield. A 3 p.m. jam session will follow the work sessions at the academy.

Furtado also will perform in concert from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Vintage Church, 1501 New Hampshire St. Tickets are $20 at the door.

Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championship schedule

Friday

Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., Pickett, Paull and Jeans, 6 p.m.; Kelly Hunt with Stas’ Heaney, 7 p.m.; and The John Brown Boys, 8 p.m.

Lucia, 1016 Massachusetts St., Cul-de-Sac Cowboy, 9 p.m.; Joshua Bach, 10 p.m.; Kansas City Konza Swamp Band, 11 p.m.

Saturday

Tony Furtado workshops at Americana Music Academy, 1419 Massachusetts St.

• banjo workshop, 1 to 1:40 p.m.

• guitar workshop, 2 to 2:45 p.m.

• jam session, 3 p.m.

Furtado concert at Vintage Church, 1501 New Hampshire St., 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Sunday in South Park

North Stage, starting at noon: Miscellaneous instruments contest, harmony singing contest, No Mountain String Band concert, youth fiddling contest, open fiddle contest, The Matchmakers concert, awards presentation.

South Stage, starting at noon: Quasi Brothers concert, banjo contest, flatpicking guitar contest, mandolin contest, No Bow Tie concert, fingerpicking guitar contest, youth awards.

On grounds: Jamming, noon to 5 p.m., Silly Hats and KT Walsh, noon to 5 p.m., shape note singing, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.