Winfield, KS., — The 2011 International Autoharp contest at the Walnut Valley Festival included seven contestants who played and they hailed from six different states (TX, KS, CA, CO, MO, & OK). Since there were only seven contestants the second round of competition was eliminated and the four who didn’t make the top three places were awarded plaques for participation.

When the final three were announced, first place was awarded to Ray Choi from Garden Grove, CA. Ray had played seventh in the Mt. Laurel contest and he won that competition and when he drew where he would play here at the WVF contest he drew the number 7 again. When He won the competition and drew for his WVF Belt Buckle…

Winfield, KS., — Over the past 40 years music lovers have been coming to this community in south-central Kansas to listen to and share music with like minded friends. One of the tendencies of the artists that have made Winfield and the Walnut Valley Festival a stopping point during their musical tours across the country has been their willingness to be accessible to the fans that come to their festival sets. As a result, the fans and artists have developed lasting friendships that have been nurtured by time spent in conversation and shared events. One topic that is very common as a conversation subject is “how do you play that one thing?”…

Winfield, KS., — Genre-busting Artist Michael Martin Murphey, whose latest release on Rural Rhythm Records is Tall Grass & Cool Water, will make his debut appearance at the prestigious Walnut Valley Festival on Sept. 15 – 17 in Winfield, Ks. Murphey will be joined by his crackerjack band, The Rio Grande Band, featuring renowned guitarist Pat Flynn of New Grass Revival fame….

Winfield, KS., — Vexillology, is according to Wikipedia, the scholarly study of flags. Bright colors have become a common welcome to travelers upon their arrival to the Winfield Fairgrounds during the Walnut Valley Festival. Those bright colors are in the form of flags, organization flags, state flags and various country flags. A total of 98 different flags to be precise, and if you count duplications of the United States and the Walnut Valley Association flags there are 100 even. New to the lineup of flags this year are Malaysia, Myanmar, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. So why these 4 countries flags? True, none of the 4 is known worldwide for their contributions to bluegrass or even acoustic music. However, a citizen from each of these countries has made his way to the sunflower state to attend the Walnut Valley Festival

Winfield, KS., — In 2010 for the second time Guitar Player magazine named Tommy Emmanuel the best guitar player of the year, a title that some have been using to describe Tommy since his first appearance at the Walnut Valley Festival back in 2000 when he became the talk of the campgrounds.

Now after a 4 year absence Tommy Emmanuel will be bringing his high energy…