The Columbia Fiddle & Bango T-Shirt Design Contest ends September 3rd! We can’t wait to see what you create!

The 40th Annual Columbia Fiddle and Bango Contest will be held on Saturday, September 28^th at the Gazebo on Main Street in Columbia Historic State Park. The Fiddle and Bango Contest—yes, you read that right the first time—is named so because of a once unfortunate and now serendipitous printing error on the t-shirts at the first contest in 1983. 

As the Fiddle & Bango Contest is open to contestants of all ages, experience, and styles, the T-Shirt Design Contest has decided to adopt the same parameters. Please read below for full contest details and entry requirements. 

T-SHIRT CONTEST ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• Design must be transferable to a t-shirt. 
• Please submit only one design per contestant. 
• Design can only include two colors for print. The background (t-shirt color) can be considered a separate color (white, black, red, yellow, green, purple, blue, tan or gray). We do not guarantee that any submitted design colors will be matched exactly.
• Please provide your design as a JPEG email attachment. Submit design to columbiafiddlebango@gmail.com.
• The deadline to submit is 11:59pm on Monday, September 2nd. 
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, a design will be chosen by a special committee. Notification will be sent to the artist and the design will be posted later that week. The winner will receive design credit during advanced promotion and at the contest, as well as one free t-shirt of their preferred size.

This event is sponsored by Rock In Road, a local non-profit organization. Rock In Road supports youth music instruction in Tuolumne County. Contest attendance and parking is free.

Rock In Road, Strawberry’s nonprofit partner, is excited to announce the Columbia Fiddle & Bango T-Shirt Design Contest! 

The 40th Annual Columbia Fiddle and Bango Contest will be held on Saturday, September 28^th at the Gazebo on Main Street in Columbia Historic State Park. The Fiddle and Bango Contest—yes, you read that right the first time—is named so because of a once unfortunate and now serendipitous printing error on the t-shirts at the first contest in 1983. 

As the Fiddle & Bango Contest is open to contestants of all ages, experience, and styles, the T-Shirt Design Contest has decided to adopt the same parameters. Please read below for full contest details and entry requirements. 

T-SHIRT CONTEST ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• Design must be transferable to a t-shirt. 
• Please submit only one design per contestant. 
• Design can only include two colors for print. The background (t-shirt color) can be considered a separate color (white, black, red, yellow, green, purple, blue, tan or gray). We do not guarantee that any submitted design colors will be matched exactly.
• Please provide your design as a JPEG email attachment. Submit design to columbiafiddlebango@gmail.com.
• The deadline to submit is 11:59pm on Monday, September 2nd. 
• On Tuesday, September 3rd, a design will be chosen by a special committee. Notification will be sent to the artist and the design will be posted later that week. The winner will receive design credit during advanced promotion and at the contest, as well as one free t-shirt of their preferred size.

We can’t wait to see what you create! 

This event is sponsored by Rock In Road, a non-profit organization. Rock In Road supports youth music instruction in Tuolumne County. Contest attendance and parking is free.

We would like to take a moment to thank and highlight the Strawberry Music Festival’s nonprofit partner, Rock In Road! 

Formed in 2015, Rock In Road was created to support and preserve folk traditions, with the specific mission of enhancing and extending The Strawberry Way, both at Strawberry Music Festival and in the greater world. They also support youth music instruction in Tuolumne County. The organization serves breakfast at the Breakfast Club and is a proud sponsor of the Strawberry Family Activities.

Please stay tuned for more information about upcoming Rock in Road events, including: 

Bandstand Concert and Fundraiser in late October. This event supports instrument purchase and repair for youth music instruction in Tuolumne County.

The DeLacy Memorial Golf Tournament in early to mid-November.

We would love to connect with Strawberrians at these local events! There will also be volunteer opportunities — help us enhance and extend the Strawberry Way!

More information about Rock In Road can be found here.

The Spring 2024 Photo Gallery is live! 🍓🏕️🪕

Check out all the photos here.

Thank you to the Strawberry photographers who worked the whole festival to capture and create moments of magic, love, music, and fun! 

📸 : Kate Skogen, Dave Bonnot, Tim Van Raam, Tim Konrad, Robin Frenette, Evan Thompson, Adam Metterville

The Strawberry office is now closed for the summer season. Office staff will be checking and returning phone messages periodically at (209) 984-8630. We can also be reached by email at info@strawberrymusic.com. Sign up for our email list to receive notifications regarding the Spring 2025 Festival. Strawberry’s website is also a great source of general information. 

Thank you for your support of the Strawberry Music Festival, and we can’t wait to see you next year! 🍓

It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that longtime Strawberry volunteer and friend, Stan Stratton, passed away last week.

It has been difficult to find the words for this message and to acknowledge this unexpected loss. Stan was unable to attend this past festival, which was the first one he had missed since his first in 1991, because his camper van broke down and could not carry him to us from his home in Springfield, Oregon. None of us could imagine that there would not be another opportunity to share a Strawberry hug with our dear friend, to delight in the fresh strawberries or the homemade fudge (made using his grandmother’s recipe) that Stan would pass out at our festival staff meetings on Wednesday night, to admire the collection of wristbands he wore proudly affixed to his signature beret, or to hear one of many epic Strawberry stories that—like Stan—bettered with age.

To say that Stan was personally invested in the Strawberry festival family would be an understatement. Besides being a supportive ally year-round to his festival friends, he had endeavored to photo document most, if not all, festival camp banners. These photographs can be found in the Camp Photo Gallery available for all to enjoy on the Strawberry website. His contributions to the Strawberry experience through his work with the Camping Assistance crew, and as a force for good within our music loving community, are too numerous to name and will not be forgotten.

Our deepest condolences go out to Stan’s family and friends, as we hold you all in the sacred space of one loving Strawberry heart. We will imagine Stan’s spirit with our other lost loved ones in that big beautiful festival in the sky where, eventually, we all hope to continue to revel in love, laughter, peace-making, nature, frivolity, and music.

Here’s to you, and the life you lived, dearest Stan! 

Thank you to everyone who submitted their guesses for the Shuttle Crew Helping Hands Contest!

We are excited to announce the winners with the closest guesses… Gina Bliss (1088) and Stacey Sketo-Rosener (1096). Winners will receive a special surprise gift, compliments of Shuttle Crew leader, Tony Cokely. Congratulations!

Strawberry’s Shuttle Crew not only helps people get around, they also assist in lots of other ways. This year, Shuttle crew members recorded each ride and assist given from Thursday, May 23rd to Sunday, May 26th… and that total number of Helping Hands interactions has been tabulated! The number was 1,109!

Thank you to the Shuttle Crew for all your hard work and helping hands! And a special thanks goes out to Tony for hosting this contest!

Strawberry’s Shuttle Crew not only helps people get around, they also assist in lots of other ways. This year, Shuttle crew members recorded each ride and assist given from approximately 9:30 am on Thursday, May 23rd until 7:30 pm on Sunday, May 26th… and that total number of Helping Hands interactions has been tabulated! The person who guesses the number most closely will win a surprise gift from the Shuttle Crew leader, Tony Cokely.  

HOW TO SUBMIT 

Fill out the Shuttle Crew Contest Form on Strawberry’s website to submit your answer by 11:59 pm PST on Thursday, June 13, 2024. If multiple people guess the number correctly, there will be multiple winners. If no one comes up with the exact number, the person who guesses most closely to the number will be selected. To qualify for the prize, you must fill out every field of the contest form and include your most current contact information. Winner(s) will be announced on Friday, June 14th.

WHAT ARE HELPING HANDS?

Helping Hands are rides, directions, and other non-ride assistance interactions. Non-ride assistance is calling for camping assistance, security, and other crews; assisting lost attendees; giving directions to the gates, stages, bathrooms, water stations, ice vendor and other areas; sharing map information and performer schedules; and helping ADA patrons. 

SHUTTLE CREW HOURS

Two 6-passenger golf carts were used each festival day, from Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, May 27. Drivers 1 and 2 ran a shift from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm and Drivers 3 and 4 ran the following shift from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Each shuttle ran for 40 hours, for a total of 80 regular hours during this past festival. In addition, Shuttle crew leaders also provided 16 total “before and after” hours of transportation for mobility impaired guests Thursday through Sunday.

We expect the grand total number will not be easy to guess, so thank you for participating, and good luck!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Spring 2024 Strawberry Music Festival! We are grateful to be part of a passionate and caring community of music and art lovers who made this year’s Strawberry Music Festival such a memorable occasion!  

We are especially eager to give accolades to the people who keep the festival running smoothly. 

Thank you to our volunteers who are committed to contributing their time and skills AND to the devoted crew leaders and coordinators who dedicate many hours to organizing volunteers and managing various departments before, during, and after the event. We are also grateful for the diverse group of vendors, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and workshop presenters who provide delectable food and drink, activities and entertainment, essential services, and unique shopping opportunities at Strawberry. Their participation supports a program of non-stop festival fun and frivolity. 

In addition, Strawberry is honored and enamored by the stellar musicians, representing a variety of genres, who played for us everywhere from the Main Stage to campground jams. This gathering would not be possible without an enthusiastic audience of patrons who literally and figuratively invest in cultivating a quality community experience. Last but not least, we would like to thank all of the fantastic folks working at the Nevada County Fairgrounds who have welcomed and supported Strawberry’s Spring Festival nine times over the last ten years.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please note that Strawberry’s home office will reopen for business on Monday, June 3rd, and our office staff will be available 10:00am – 2:00pm, Monday – Wednesday at (209) 984-8630 or info@strawberrymusic.com. Thank you for your patience while we unpack our supplies and begin to address the following post-festival wrap-up items:

• Lost & Found: We will use Lost Forms submitted at the Info Booth during the festival to contact those whose possessions we have found. Please let us know if you lost something and have not already submitted a Lost  Form. 
• Problem Box (tickets lost/stolen/left at home): Customers who left their tickets at home can avoid the gate charge by mailing unused tickets to the office postmarked by Monday, June 17th. Tickets that were lost will be reviewed and reconciled in the order they were received.
• Surveys: We are so excited to read your surveys and receive your input as we work together to improve the festival experience each year!
• Fall Strawberry: The prospect of bringing back the Fall Strawberry Music Festival next year is the topic of the hour. Be on the lookout for a special survey coming later this summer to let us know your thoughts about the possibility of  returning to a bi-annual festival format. You can also provide input by emailing info@strawberrymusic.com. 
• Stay tuned for a special post-fest contest to be presented by Strawberry’s Shuttle Crew.

THANK YOU, AND SEE YOU IN 2025!  🍓