12th Annual Old Time Fiddlers Convention

Black background with a photograph of a smiling man's face in the center with a yellow circular border. Above the photograph is all capped yellow text curling around the upper edge of the button. Yellow text also curls right below the photograph. A second yellow border can be partially seen around the outer edge of the bottom-right of the button.

The Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention has been held annually in Santa Barbara, California, since the early 1970s. Due to violence at music festivals like Altamont in 1969, large outdoor events had been banned in the San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles County. The Topanga Canyon Banjo/Fiddle Contest from Los Angeles needed a location and contacted the Art & Lecture department at UC Santa Barbara. After many meetings and convincing from local music professors and community members, the event was permitted to happen on campus. The following year the ban was lifted, and the contest returned to Los Angeles. The music festival was a huge success, so in 1972, The Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention in Santa Barbara began.