World Fiddle Day is an annual celebration of

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

music, held on the third Saturday of May. World Fiddle Day events are held around the world, in areas where fiddle music is popular."World Fiddle Day in Kerry village of Scartaglin pays tribute to Sliabh Luachra master Pádraig O’Keeffe"
''Irish Examiner'', May 13, 2016 Pet O’Connell

History

World Fiddle Day was founded by

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

fiddler Caoimhin Mac Aoidh in 2012. The May date was chosen to coincide with the 1737 death of Italian violin craftsman Antonio Stradivari. The first

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

celebration was held in 2013 and that year there was a celebration in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

as well. In 2015, Canada declared World Fiddle Day to be National Fiddle Day as well."Fiddle playing food for the soul"
By Scott Dunn, ''Sun Times'', Owen Sound, May 21, 2016 There were celebrations in Owen Sound, Ontario, St. John's, Newfoundland and Toronto. The Ottawa Fiddle and Stepdancing Competition was held in Richmond, Ontario. In 2016 a World Fiddle Day celebration was held at Fort York in Toronto on May 21. Yosvani Castañeda Valdés demonstrated Cuban fiddling, while Dan MacDonald performed and presented a workshop about Cape Breton fiddling style. Other events were held in Owen Sound, Ontario and

Scartaglen Scartaglen or Scartaglin () is a village and townland in the Sliabh Luachra area of County Kerry, Ireland. It is located on the R577 regional road, close to the town of Castleisland. As of the 2011 census, the townland of Scartaglin had a popu ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In 2019 Kincardine, Ontario, held its fifth annual World Fiddle Day celebration with a downtown open air fiddling show. The Scartaglen celebration that year included lectures about the lives of local fiddlers Denis Murphy and

Julia Clifford Julia Clifford (19 June 1914 – 18 June 1997) was a fiddler and Irish traditional musician. Julia Murphy was born at Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, County Kerry, part of an area in west Munster known as Sliabh Luachra. Her father Bill played flu ...

."World Fiddle Day attracts hundreds to Sliabh Luachra capital"
''Radio Kerry News'', 19th May 2019

References

{{reflist May observances International observances Unofficial observances Works about violins and violinists Music festivals staged internationally Fiddles