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Registration Opens for Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Competition at Family-Friendly Festival June 21

March 31, 2014. Registration is open in April for guitarists who want to compete at the 20th annual Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition at Grayson Highlands State Park. The winner will walk away with a handmade Henderson guitar.

Applications must be received between April 1 and May 1. To register, send a completed application form and a $20 application fee by personal check or money order payable to the Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Competition. The form can be obtained from www.waynehenderson.org and mailed to: Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition, c/o Herb Key, 1423 Dragway Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Wayne Henderson
Wayne Henderson

A maximum of 20 contestant applications and 10 alternate contestant applications will be selected. The first 20 applications will be drawn at random and approved as contestants by the contestant selection committee. The next 10 applications will be drawn at random and approved as alternates. Other prizes are second place, $200; third, $150, fourth, $100; and fifth, $50. (These winners also will be eligible for the 2015 contest by simply sending in an application and fee.) All guitarists receive free passes to the festival.

The family-friendly festival will be Saturday, June 21, rain or shine, at Grayson Highlands State Park in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Performing will be Vince Gill, Bill Kirchen, Dale Jett and Hello Stranger, the Snyder Family Band, Kazuhiro Inaba, and Wayne Henderson and Friends. Children’s events and music are on the schedule, too. Admission is $20, and children 12 and younger get in free. Parking is $3. 

Since the festival began in 1995, more than $96,000 has been awarded to aid young, local, traditional musicians in continuing their music exploration and education. Find event details at www.waynehenderson.org. Park information is at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/grayson-highlands.shtml.