Musical Saw Festival -West Coast

The 33rd Annual International Musical Saw Festival Aug. 13-14, 2011 in Santa Cruz, CA
For great music that’s a cut above the rest, come to the 33rd Annual International Musical Saw Festival, Saturday and Sunday, August 13 and 14, 2011, in beautiful Santa Cruz County, California.

The Festival starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13 with a free acoustic jam near the world’s only life-sized bronze statue of a saw player, in front of Bookshop Santa Cruz (1520 Pacific Avenue). At 6 p.m. Saturday, the cutting-edge fun moves to the outer parking lot of Roaring Camp in Felton, just seven miles north of Santa Cruz, for a free potluck dinner and jam.

The Festival’s big events begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at Roaring Camp, when the world’s greatest saw players join other acoustic musicians in a variety of musical performances. You’ll hear bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, blues, classical works and show tunes (though, oddly enough, no heavy metal) throughout the day. The forecast also includes outbreaks of spontaneous acoustic jams at any time.

The International Musical Saw Contest (the Saw-Off) is held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Later that afternoon, around 3 p.m., is the Presentation of Awards, followed by the Chorus of the Saws, when up to 50 saw players attempt to play in unison. At 4 p.m., for those who want to learn to play music that really has some teeth in it, there’s a free Musical Saw Workshop.

From beginning to end, the Saw Festival is free, and fun for the whole family. For more information, check out www.SawPlayers.org, or www.RoaringCamp.com. Produced by volunteers of the International Musical Saw Association, this event is sponsored in part by the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County and KUSP Public Radio. Come to the 33rd annual Musical Saw Festival, and say you saw it here first!