Museum exhibit at Queen's Park

Every year, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario invites museums and cultural institutions from across the province to participate in their Community Exhibits program. As a result, display cabinets line the corridors in the East and West Wings of the Legislature building that are seen by more that 250,000 visitors.

Dufferin County Museum and Archives (DCMA) has an exhibit on display at Queens Park until early September. The display features the wonderful story of the Shelburne Fiddlefest. Artifacts include trophies, a fiddle, souvenirs, photographs and brochures.

The label (presented in both French and English) reads:

Canadian Open Old Time

Fiddle Championship,

'Shelburne, Ontario

A friendly challenge and a service club keen to raise some money together generated one of the most successful musical events in Ontario.

In 1951, the Shelburne Rotary Club organized formal contest to settle a debate between older and younger fiddlers, as to who better. The CBC radio network decided to broadcast the event across the country. A local fun and fundraising idea quickly became part of Ontario's cultural scene and helped preserve traditional styles of music treasured by Canadians. 50 years of CBC radio broadcasts made the Shelburne old time fiddlers' contest a national event.

The contest celebrates the "fiddle," an instrument brought into Ontario by our earliest settlers, and a lively folk music tradition enriched by fiddlers from many cultures. On the second weekend of August, thousands of people flock to Shelburne (known as "Fiddleville"). The contest has now expanded into a four-day festival of concerts, competitions, parades and jam-sessions.

Ontario celebrates fiddle music at the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship, and Dufferin County is where it all happens!

As the keeper of the community's memory, Dufferin County Museum and Archives has collected many artifacts created for the contest.

Alison Hird, Collections Manager at the DCMA said the exhibit "is a wonderful opportunity for us to share a small glimpse of the Museum's collection, with the added bonus of bringing attention to this wonderfully successful local event."

For more information please call 1-877-941-7787 - or visit www. dufferinmuseum. com