Lawrence is in store for a weekend full of ballads, harmonies and get-downs thanks to the Annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships. This is the 35th year for the event, which brings music lovers far and wide to the heart of Lawrence on a hot August Sunday.

The weekend of music kicks off on Friday with a little pre-show at the Replay from 6 to 9 p.m. That’s where Old Fangled, Alferd Packer Memorial String Band, and Pickett, Paull & Jeans will set the tone for the harmonious weekend.

After that, Americana Music Academy brings its open jam to South Park on Saturday. The jam starts at 4 p.m., with performances from Kansas City Hustle, P. Lague, and Carswell & Hope at 6 p.m.

On Sunday, everyone heads back to South Park to lay out the picnic blankets and enjoy all the fiddling and picking the competition has to offer. Contestants from previous years are set to return as professional performers. The Vogts Sisters, The Wheatbenders, Gadjos-Chapeaux (gypsy jazz!), and Spencer and Rains are all set to perform this year. You may have spotted Spencer and Rains fiddling and busking on the streets of downtown Lawrence over the last year.

Those performances will be interjected with competitions for fiddle, banjo, flat-picking guitar, finger-style guitar, and mandolin. Both stages start up the music at noon. The festival is going to try something new this year, an all-acoustic “campground stage” similar to what we see at the Walnut Valley Festival campgrounds. It’s called “The Sunflower Stage,” and performers will get 15 minutes to perform acoustically (you can sign up on the day of the event).

This is a family-friendly event, and Americana Music Academy will be hosting an area for children to take part in crafts, painting, and (of course) music.

You can find out more information at the event’s website.