Saturday also offers family tree workshops by the local genealogical society and historical society and pork chop sandwich dinners. Surrounded by plenty of vittles, mountain men and crafts, you'll be able to enjoy the music as well as the spectacle. Events of interest include such hilarity as a Catfishin' Derby, greased pole climbing, tomahawk throwing, a liar's contest, the Great Western Cow Chip Throwing Championship, the California State Arm Wrestling Championship and, of course, the Huck Finn look-alike contest. Mojave Narrows Regional Park, an oasis along the course of the High Desert's Mojave River in Southern California, provides the ideal backdrop for Finn celebrants. The park invites picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, boating and fishing, as well as camping for those who wish to hide out in true Huck form for the weekend.
Camping is available.
Settlers making their way westward along the Oregon Trail could bring along only the most portable of old-world musical instruments, and as immigrants stopped to rest and entertain themselves, the compact fiddle was often the instrument pulled out from covered wagons. The first recorded fiddle festival in Weiser, an old Oregon Trail outpost that saw its fair share of these settlers, was in 1914, though travelers were jamming on fiddles way back when the outpost was established in the 1860s. Participants compete in this popular contest by playing a waltz, a hoe-down and a tune of their choice, with a maximum of two accompanists. Every outdoor activity imaginable, except for maybe skyscraper climbing, can be done within minutes of Weiser. The original focus was on bluegrass, as the name implies, but as old-timers know, the festival now encompasses folk, country, gospel and roots music from around the planet.