3rd Annual John Hartford Memorial Festival
Motto for JHMF - "Under-promise" & "Over-Deliver"

Song writing contest winners
We had 16 great song entries, the judges final decisions came up with the following entry winners for this years contest. I've also listed two runner ups.
1st Place - Hartford's Bend - Scott Carnder - lyrics
2nd Place - The Fiddle Man - James Clark - lyrics
3rd Place - Smile On My Face - David Wright - lyrics
4th Place - Carefree Gom Tree Canoe - Allie Burbrink - lyrics
5th Place - Riverboat John - Nelson Hopwood - lyrics
For the few of you looking over this site that don't know much about John, click on the picture above and it will take you to a short biography.
Just three weeks left to purchase your tickets online here and save yourselves a some cash. Advance ticket sales will end on May 24th. I want to thank all of you who have purchased advanced tickets already. The sales are up from the past two years and has given me confidence that this is going to be the best Hartford festival so far.

Please help keep this beautiful festival park and campground clean. We have contracted Old Hippie Recycling this year to help keep our festival green. We would like to ask you to please sort your recyclables at your camp sites, one bag for trash and one bag for recycling plastic bottles (no caps), glass, aluminum cans, and cardboard.


You definitely are going to want to schedule a time to view this movie at the Hartford Festival. Anna Schwaber, the producer of the Porchlight Sessions bluegrass documentary, is going to join us at the festival and provide screenings of her film. There is about a 5 minute piece near the begiining of the film about John Hartford. It will be shown on the Hippy Hill stage on Thursday & Friday nights at 9:30. In addition we are planning to setup things up to have a few screenings for the film on Saturday in Uncle Pens cabin for a limited amount of people.
Here is a song that was written to honor John and the festival that serves as a good example of the type of song that would be good for entering into the "Song Writing" contest this year. Tribute Song
Besides all the great shows, make plans for these happenings:
Song Writing & Old Time Fiddle Contests, Hartford Throwdown, Chompdown, & Camp Jams all night long. How about an award for the best Hartford decorated campsite or best looking Hartford apparel.
If you have any inquiries about the festival or this website, please send them to:
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Headliners
1. Great American Taxi - YouTube
2. Larry Keel & Natural Bridge - YouTube
3. Jamie Hartford & friends - YouTube
4. Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band
5. Rumpke Mountain Boys
6. The HillBenders - YouTube - 2009 Telluride band contest winners
7. Mike Compton - YouTube
8. Town Mountain - YouTube - 2005 Rockygrass band contest winners
9. Billy Bright & Geoff Union - YouTube - Formerly The Two High String Band
10. Bawn In The Mash - YouTube
11. New Old Cavalry
12. Betse Ellis
13. Frank Lee of the Freight Hoppers
14. Blind Corn Liquor Pickers
15. John Bultman
16. Branded Bluegrass - YouTube
17. Chicago Farmer
18. ClusterPluck
19. Deep Fried Squirrel
20. Flatland Harmony Experiment - YouTube
21. Goldmine Pickers - YouTube
22. Henhouse Prowlers - 2010 Rocky Grass band contest winners
23. Hickory Robot -YouTube
24. The Indiana Boys
25. Johnson’s Crossroad
26. Eric Lambert & friends
27. Ray Lawrence Jr.
28. The Lodge Brothers
29. The Lulus - YouTube - Facebook
30. Lexi Len Minnich
31. Ma Crow and the Lady Slippers
32. Colin O’Brien
33. Pineridge Partners
34. The Root Diggers
35. Ryan Spearman & Kelly Wells - YouTube
36. The Stuttering Ducks
37. The Tillers
38. The Whipstitch Sallies - YouTube
39. Whiskey Bent Valley Boys
40. Whistle Pigs - YouTube
41. White Lightning Boys
42. Wil Maring & Robert Bowlin
43. Woodstove Flapjacks
44. The Worley Boys with Heathen’s Halo
45. The Locust Honey String Band - YouTube
46. Elemental Shakedown
47. Offland OM - YouTube
48. Huckleberry Green
49. Old Truck Revival
50. The 23 String Band
51. Blue Mafia
52. 220 Breakers
53. The Wild Rumpus
54. Deep Fried Pickle Project
55. Leadfoot
56. Creek Road Ramblers
57. Whistle Stop Review
JHMF III - Fiddle & Song Writing Contest
1. Registration for both contests will begin January 7th, 2013
2. Registration information needed is (a.) full name. (b.) email address. (c.) phone number. This registration information can be mailed to the address listed in item #5 below or emailed to
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3. In addition to the above information, song title & lyrics are needed for the Song Writing contest.
4. There is a $10 registration fee.
5. You can choose to pay online at the link above or mail a check. Checks should be made out to John Hartford Memorial Festival and mailed along with the registration information to: John Hotze - 6834 Bradley Avenue - St. Louis, MO 63139.
6. Advance registration for the Old Time Fiddle contest will close May 17th, 2013 or after the first twenty contestants have registered.
7. Registration for the Old Time Fiddle contest can also be done at the festival from 9:00 am until 9:45 am at the Hippy Hill stage.
8. An announcement will be made on this site if registration needs to be closed early do to twenty people having registered.
9. Songwriting registration will close at midnight May 3, 2013
John Hartford Old Time Fiddle Contest
The contest will be held on the Boogie stage on Saturday morning, June 1st, 2013 at 10:00 am. Registered contestants will draw a number for the playing order just before the contest begins. Contestants will be judged on rhythm/timing, tonal qualities, expression/soul, difficulty, and OLD TIME STYLE, with the highest scores going to traditional old-time tunes played in the traditional old time style.
1. Fancy fiddling or Texas Swing fiddling will not be awarded points. Playing crooked fiddle tunes is encouraged but will bear no extra weight to the judges' scoring.
2. Cross tuning will be allowed with one minute allowed for cross tuning. Fiddlers may have one accompanist who will not be miked. Fiddlers may also play more than one fiddle to accommodate cross tunings.
3. Each contestant will play two tunes of choice.
4. Each contestant will turn in the names and order of the tunes they play, which will be announced by the contest emcee.
5. The contestant will not be allowed to speak.
6. Total time for each contestant to perform both tunes will be no more than five minutes.
7. For this first contest, the field will be filled at twenty.
8. If the field is between fifteen and twenty, then the top five will be called back for a final.
9. Only fiddlers who do not make their full time living fiddling will be allowed to compete. Fiddlers booked at JHMF who do not make their full time living performing are eligible to compete as long as their performance schedules don't conflict with the contest schedule.
10. The judges' decision is final.
11. 1st place wins $100.00 and a hand-made trophy plaque by Tom Burkhart, with art by Jon Griffin.
12. 2nd place wins $50
13. 3rd place wins $25
14. We will reimburse $10 for a single day ticket and $20 for a full festival ticket to all fiddle contestants. You can ask for the reimbursement when you enter the festival your first time.
15. Additional prizes may be added leading up to the festival.
Ticket Information: I have set the ticket prices at bargain prices until the end of September. If you can buy them now it will help me as I plan next years festival and you're ticket purchase will be in will call ready for the next festival. I have also added some donation possibilities. As you've probably heard, even though we had more folks turn out fo JHMF II, it still wasn't enough to kick me into the black. The more money that comes in now and in the near future from ticket sales and donations, the more money I'll have to spend on booking acts. Believe me every dime that comes in will be going to keep this festival going and growing. Taxi will be at the festival all three days this year. I talked with Vince on the Spririt of Peoria cruise and he is excited and wants to see this festival grow. Jamie Hartford and friends will be back and who knows who he'll bring with him for III.
Tickets do not include camping fees. If you would like to inqure about camping or make a reservation for a campsite with a hookup please call 1-800-414-4677.
Ticket prices & tiers for JHMF III:
Kids 12 & under are free.
Advance ticket prices from January 1, 2012 until May 15, 2013
Single day $40
Full festival - 3 days $90
Ticket prices at the gate
Single day $45
Full festival - 3 day $110
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Share your memories of John. Send them to:
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