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Kids' Coin Scramble in the sand, 1999
Kids' Coin Scramble in the sand, 1999. Photo courtesy of Ainsworth Area Chamber of Commerce

Annual National Country Music Festival

This event is held annually in Ainsworth, Nebraska, the second weekend in August. It is centered around a series of music competitions in categories such as fiddlers, pickers, country bands, vocal groups, solo vocalists by gender and age, a song-writing contest, and Band Scramble, in which contestants are randomly selected to perform together as a band. Other events include the Garage Sale-abration, an auctioneer bid-calling competition, square dancing, a horseshoe tournament, a coin scramble for children, and two free pancake feeds. Held since 1971, the event is sponsored by the Ainsworth Chamber of Commerce and run by more than 235 volunteers. It won the Country Music Showcase International Hall of Fame Achievement Award in 1992, the same year that the state legislature declared Ainsworth to be the Country Music Capital of Nebraska. The festival is documented in text, photographs, news articles, a souvenir ornament and button, and a copy of the lyrics to "In the Middle of Nowhere", a prize-winning song from the 1997 festival that sings the praises of the town of Ainsworth.

Originally submitted by: Chuck Hagel, Senator.



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