History of The Original Dulcimer Players Club Funfest





 For ten years prior to the first FunFest the ODPC held regular meetings, generally twice a year. Here is a list of those meetings.... the dates and the locations. After having difficulty coordinating with the original location in Barryton, the fall 1973 ODPC meeting (September 19-20) was moved to the Osceola FFA Fairground in Evart Michigan and expanded to two days with camping. This was ten years after the first meeting. An interesting letter from Gene and Esther Cox describes the move and the facilities at the fairground. Here is a historic flyer from that first fall meeting at Evart!

The concert was recorded by Paul Gifford and those recordings are preserved here. See link below.

There was much enthusiasm after the meeting and the club decided to expand further the next year. Here are the minutes of the November executive board meeting discussing expanding the "meeting" into the FunFest format. And here is a letter from Gene and Esther Cox about the fairground confirming the 1974 FunFest dates. So the "Non-electrical Musical Funfest" was officially born in June of 1974 at the Osceola County fairgrounds in Evart Michigan, where it remains to this day.. Here's a flyer from an early Evart "FunFest". The FunFest was conceived as a place where all non-electrified instruments would be welcomed, with a special emphasis on the hammered dulcimer.

What we know as the Funfest began in June of 1974 but was moved to its current date after a couple years. It is currently held on "the weekend in July which includes the third Saturday" (generally the third weekend in July) at the Osceola County Fairgrounds in Evart Michigan. It continues to be a gathering place for all players of non-electric instruments at all skill levels and backgrounds, and has blossomed into an event that as of 2011, attracts upwards of 6000 people and well over 250 dulcimers.






Audio recordings from the 1973 ODPC meeting

Video from the 1981 Funfest

Jams and dance at the 1982 FunFest
From the vendor pavilion and the 4H building
Note that this was shot as B-roll (cutaways) for the
ODPC documentary and has lots of jerky camera
work as a result. It has been left mostly un-edited.

Paul Goelz's Video collection from old and new Funfests

For MUCH more information, photos and video, see www.dulcimers.com