Fid Pick 2025 coming to Lawrence here’s what to know

LAWRENCE (KSNT) – The 44th Annual Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championship (Fid Pick) is going to be on August 24 at noon, featuring headliners Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius. 

Fid Pick is an annual festival held at South Park in Lawrence that is focused around the Kansas State fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar and string band competitions. Winning the string band competition guarantees a spot at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, where the national competitions are. 

FidPick, as a state-level competition, first occurred in 1981, but the event’s history takes us back to July of 1976, when the event was formed as part of the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in Lawrence, KS. Known then as the Douglas County Fiddling and Picking Championships, this county resident-only competition was underwritten in part by the Kansas Arts Commission and organized by longtime volunteer Gloria Throne. The event inspired a vision of all Kansas counties running a similar competition, culminating in a state-level contest.
Per the Fid Pick website

This year will feature Tim O’Brien from the band Hot Rize, and Jan Fabricius from Wakeeney, Kansas. O’Brien has multiple GRAMMYS to his name in both bluegrass and folk categories, and Fabricius was working as a registered nurse in Wakeeney before moving to Nashville in 2013. The two have been playing together since 2015, and their latest release, “Paper Flowers” demonstrates the musical connection they share. 

“This year is our first time hiring a Grammy-winning artist, Tim O’Brien and Jan Fabricius,” said Max Paley, executive director of Fid Pick. “This is our biggest headliner to date by a long shot.”

Aside from the variety of competitions and performances, Fid Pick welcomes anyone with an instrument to come and jam in the various circles that form across the park. The festival has gone through many changes over the past four decades, but the mission to foster a community that celebrates the shared tradition of acoustic roots music remains the same. 

You can find out more about competing and attending here.

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