The 14th Annual Banjo Contest
Presented by Anchorage Folk Festival
in Memory of Ken Terry, “Mr. Banjo“
Open to All Ages • Four- and Five-String Banjo Styles
Prize Categories: Musical Styles and Banjo Joke
Emcee: Brett Jokela
Saturday, February 1 • AHS 106, UAA • Sign-up – 2:30 pm, Contest – 3 pm
*** CONGRATULATIONS ***
Thank you to our judges: Brian DeMarcus, Jay Marvin, and Greg Booth, as well as our Emcee Brett Jokela.
And congratulations to our winners:
Greg B.: Clawhammer
Kim M.: Bluegrass
Al L.: Other
Kim M.: Joke
Also thank you to our participants – it takes courage to compete and all of you performed well. The venue was standing room only – we look forward to seeing everyone in 2026!
The banjo is a uniquely versatile and truly American traditional instrument, and we want to celebrate the many banjo players (and especially banjo students) out there who rarely get the credit and encouragement they deserve. We hope to attract all sorts of banjo players and new fans to celebrate the talents of Alaska’s banjo virtuosos during the Anchorage Folk Festival’s 14th Annual Banjo Contest. Time to dust off that banjo in the corner!
Date, Time, and Location
Saturday, February 1, 2025
UAA Allied Health Sciences Building Room 106 (not the Wendy Williamson Auditorium)
Sign-in at 2:30 pm; Contest starts at 3 pm.
Eligibility
Free entry to anyone, any age, any ability
Audience
Audience members and fans are very welcome; just please respect the need to be quiet when contestants are playing…and don’t reveal any punch lines!
Categories
Contestants can enter one Style category:
- Bluegrass—three-fingered style of Earl Scruggs
- Old Time—clawhammer style
- Other—for example, but not limited to: Dixieland, Irish, fingerpicking, etc.
Joke—Banjo jokes are as traditional as banjo music and so they get recognition as well!
Prizes
Fun prizes will be awarded for each musical style and for the Banjo Joke category. All contestants receive a Certificate of Participation.
Judging
All contestants will be judged by our panel of four judges. We modeled our judging methods based on established performance criteria used in banjo contests all over the country.
Our distinguished judges are: Brian DeMarcus, Jay Marvin, John Walsh
Contest
- The contest will start at 3 pm in Allied Health Sciences Building Room 106.
- Order of appearance will be determined before the start of the contest, by drawing numbers.
- The emcee will introduce each contestant and the song titles.
- Each contestant will have up to five minutes to play and ideally should plan to perform two instrumental numbers within that five minutes total (eek, no singing, please!).
- RULE: Players can have one accompanist, to play basically a rhythm part, such as guitar or string bass (not another banjo, please!). The accompanist is there for musical support but not to play solo or duet parts or in any way overshadow the banjo contestant.
Criteria for Style Categories
Execution (40 points): Timing, clarity, tone quality, being in tune, dynamics and finesse, degree of difficulty. (No, we are not going to execute any banjo players, even if tempted!)
Arrangement (40 points): Musical appeal of songs played, sense of melody, originality, subtlety, and taste (or what passes for taste, in banjo music).
Spirit (10 points): The music should have life and feeling, not be listless or dragging.
Overall Impression (10 points): The general effect of the performance, including factors not otherwise mentioned above. Is the audience thrilled, or chilled?
Banjo Joke Guidelines
In the Banjo Joke category, similar criteria will be applied.
All jokes must be G-rated, like the movies, with a one-minute time limit, and one-joke maximum. (Jokes will be screened by a designated AFF staffer to ensure the G rating.)
Contestants can enter the joke category and a musical category.
Judges’ Deliberation and Awards
All contestants should stay together until the final results are tabulated, because there might be ties in one or more categories that need to be resolved by a play-off. That means that those players would need to each play one more song for the judges to determine the winner.
Judges will confer to determine the winners. During that time, ALL contestants are requested to gather together on stage…we might have them all play a simple tune!
At the conclusion, winners will be announced, prizes awarded, and Certificates of Performance provided. Of course, all participants are also encouraged to become members of the Anchorage Folk Festival and to consider volunteering too.
Special thanks to Dick Sanchis (Local Burger Man), who helped us start and support this contest, and to Cara Sanchis for continuing to support it each year. Dick Sanchis was a true Champion of Banjo Music.
Thanks also to businesses providing gift certificates, to the judges, our wonderful emcee, and other dedicated volunteers helping run this contest.
Thank You
The Arctic Roadrunner—supporting the AFF Banjo Contest for all of its years in memory of Ken Terry. Additional 2025 supporters include: Mammoth Music, Anchorage Concert Association, and Alaska Music and Sound.