Ajo Oldtime Fiddle Contest

The clubhouse on Mead Road

In early February the fiddlers take over the clubhouse of the Ajo Community Golf Course, a nine-hole public course on Mead Road. The course was established in 1946. Its clubhouse began as an officers’ club for the Air Force during the Second World War and later became a gathering place for the town. Pima County owns the course and a 501(c)3 non-profit operates it. The operator says the course survives only because of the work of volunteers and donors. The contest is held in the clubhouse ballroom and bar.

The Arizona Bluegrass Association posted a four-day schedule for the February 2–5, 2023 contest. A fiddle show opened it Thursday at 7 p.m. On Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. the fiddlers played for dancing. Contest play began at 1 p.m. on Saturday and on Sunday, after registration at 11 a.m. On Sunday a gospel sing came first, at 10 a.m. Jamming went on in the park from Thursday through Sunday. The country club prepared the meals and kept a full-service bar. Dry RV parking was offered for a fee, and hookups were available. The Arizona Old Time Fiddlers Association’s listing adds a Super Bowl party to the weekend and names Joe Willard and Linda as its contacts.

The golf course billed the 47th annual contest, February 5–8, 2026, as a showcase of talent “from all over the United States.” It said the shows and contests would be held at the course and in the Ajo Plaza. On the evening of February 7 the clubhouse held its annual Fiddlers Spaghetti Night: meat or vegetarian sauce, salad, and garlic bread for $12, with desserts at $3.

The Barrys and Henry the Fiddler

The association’s newsletter, The Arizona Fiddler, printed the results of the February 7–8, 2026 contest in its March/April issue. The divisions ran from PeeWee through Senior-Senior, with separate contests for twin fiddle, trick and fancy, and accompanist, and a runner-up division and a championship.

Several members of the Barry family placed. Ivy Barry won PeeWee and finished sixth in the championship. Elie Barry won Junior and took second in the championship. Jess Barry won both Adult and the championship, and with Elie won twin fiddle.

John Kennedy won Senior and placed third in the championship. Henry the Fiddler took trick and fancy, with Jess Barry second and Ivy Barry third. Dan Everts won Senior-Senior. Dave Brinkman, the newsletter’s editor, won accompanist. The judges were Janet Shelby, Danielle Bettencourt, and Starr McMullen. The same issue thanked the organizers, supporters, workers, and musicians of the Yuma, Ajo, and Tucson contests, all of which it called successful.

For 2027 the golf course calendar lists the 48th annual contest for February 4–7, with evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Clubhouse Ballroom and Bar. The association’s calendar, last updated August 22, 2026, gives the date as TBA.

The Moose Lodge years

The Ajo Copper News year-end recaps place the contest at the Moose Lodge through the 1990s.

• 1993: The paper recorded the annual contest there.
• 1994: The recap called it the sixteenth annual. That September, Phelps Dodge presented the deed to the 1.75 acres under the lodge to Moose Governor Kevin Tallant.
• 1995: The contest drew huge crowds.
• 1996: It ran February 3 and 4, with craftsmen and vendors alongside fiddlers and other musicians from all over the United States and Canada.
• 1997: The recap describes the 18th annual contest as a two-day event with many impromptu jam sessions.
• 1998: “El Nino didn’t keep the fiddlers from jamming in the parking lot, entering fiddling contests and playing for dancers” at the 20th annual contest. Jesse Stockman of New Mexico was grand champion.
• 1999: The 21st annual contest was at the lodge, again with fiddlers from across the United States and Canada.

From the Mocambo to the golf course

The 2000 contest brought many visitors to town. Alongside the fiddling, jam sessions, and dances there was a chili cook-off, and some fiddlers played at the school. In 2002 the contest drew more than 100 fiddlers, and even more listeners, to the Mocambo Ballroom. The 25th annual contest in 2003 had fiddling, dancing, and jamming all weekend. In 2004 the paper reported the 26th annual contest at Ajo Country Club, filling the first weekend in February. It called the 2005 contest the 26th as well.

The edition numbers do not run evenly across the sources. The paper counted the 18th in 1997 and the 20th in 1998. Event listings give the 35th in 2013 and the 44th in 2024, the latter held February 2–5 at the golf course.

The 35th annual Ajo Old Time Fiddlers Show and Contest was set for January 31 through February 3, 2013, at the Ajo Community Golf Course. That year’s raffle helped pay the expenses of bringing the fiddlers to Ajo. The prizes included:

• a stained glass hummingbird from George Steckel
• a southwest wall hanging quilt from Margaret Pancake
• a $50 gas card from Mr. and Mrs. Philip Barnart
• a saguaro quilt from Elaine Murray, titled “Fiddlin’, Ajo AZ”