Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA - MerleFest 2005 will feature three outstanding instrument contests during the first two days of the April 28 May 1 event. Any MerleFest 2005 ticket holder except for past champions and artists performing at MerleFest may enter these competitions for guitar, mandolin, and banjo. For each contest, twenty registrants will be randomly selected from all those who register on time. Only the actual contestants may wait in line, no substitutes or placeholders.

Merle Fest will again present a major league guitar summit, the 14th Doc Watson Guitar Championship. This high profile contest for acoustic, flatpick guitarists will happen on Friday afternoon, April 29, from 3:00 until 5:45 PM at The Student Center Lounge on the Wilkes Community College campus. Registration takes place in the Student Center lobby between 1:30 and 2:30 PM on Friday. The winners of the Doc Watson Guitar Championship will receive prizes of the very highest order. Cash prizes are sponsored In Memory of Bruce G. Sanders, late of Greensboro, NC. Gallagher Guitar of Wartrace, Tennessee built Doc's personal guitar and Don Gallagher continues the family tradition, so it's no surprise that the champion will receive a Gallagher. From San Diego, California, Taylor Guitars, have earned a sterling reputation in the hands of such practitioners as Dan Crary and our second place winner. Third place receives a Deluxe Calton Guitar Case, courtesy of Lonesome Pine Studios from Deep Gap, NC. The champion will perform on the Cabin Stage on Saturday. Previous champions include Kenny Smith, a long time member of the Lonesome River Band.

Registration: for the eleventh annual Merle Watson Bluegrass Banjo Championship takes place in the Student Center Lobby at Wilkes Community College between 8:30 and 9:30 AM on Friday, April 29. The competition begins at 10:00 AM. In keeping with Merle Watson's identification with the 5-string banjo and North Carolina's fame for having spawned the bluegrass three-finger style, this event has become one of the nation's foremost banjo contests. Offered as top prizes are a Gibson Earl Scruggs Standard Model Banjo or Deering The Legacy banjo. First place winners will also perform on the Cabin Stage before the festival audience on Saturday. First place receives a choice of one of the two prize banjos and a check for $300. Second place earns the remaining banjo and a check for $200. Third place receives a check for $50 and a Deluxe Calton Guitar Case, courtesy of Lonesome Pine Studio from Deep Gap, NC. Cash prizes are sponsored by Waverly Tuning Machines, a division of Stewart-MacDonald. Previous champions include Cody Kilby.

MerleFest presents the ninth annual Merlefest Mandlin Contest from 3:00 until 5:45 PM on Thursday, April 28, at The Student Center Lounge on the Wilkes Community College campus. Registration: takes place in the Student Center lobby between 3:00 and 4:00 PM on Thursday. The Grand Prize includes $300, a Flatiron F-5 Artist Mandolin, awarded by the Flatiron Mandolin Co., a division of Gibson USA, and a performance on the Cabin Stage. Second-place prize includes $200 and a Flatiron Mandolin; third prize - $50 and a Calton Mandolin Case, courtesy of Lonesome Pine Studio from Deep Gap, NC. Both mandolins carry a lifetime warranty. D’Addario Strings sponsors the cash prizes. Previous champions include the acclaimed Johnny Staats and Ashby Frank.

MerleFest 2005 will also include two events for songwriters. The popular Songwriters’ Coffeehouse, sponsored by AccuCopy, again happens on Friday evening, April 29. Songwriters selected by lot from on site registrants on site will share the stage with singer-songwriters performing at MerleFest. Recorded entries for the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest must be received by March 18, 2005. A panel of Nashville music industry figures will evaluate all the recorded entries, choosing three finalists in each of four categories: bluegrass, country, gospel, and general. Finals will take place at MerleFest 2005 on April 29 with songwriters performing at the festival judging. At MerleFest finalists receive 4-day tickets and lodging within thirty miles of the event. The first place contestants will perform for the main stage audience. For entry information, please call 800-799-3838 or visit the web site. All entries must be submitted on tape or CD with entry fee and an official entry form to The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest; PO Box 121855; Nashville, TN 37212 or submitted on line through www.sonicbids.com. Entries without completed entry form and fee will not be judged. Chris Austin Songwriting Contest sponsors include Thomas Fisher of Morgan-Keegan, Fishman Transducers, SonicBids, Acoustic Guitar, D’Addario, and Epiphone.

Festival coordinators previously announced an extraordinary talent roster for MerleFest 2005, the 18th annual festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson presented by Wilkes Community College on April 28 May 1, 2005 on its campus in Wilkesboro, NC. Just a few of those joining Doc Watson and Merle’s son Richard Watson for MerleFest 2005 includes Balfa Toujours; BR549; Sam Bush; The Chieftains; Vassar Clements; Eustace Conway; John Cowan Band; Rodney Crowell; Donna the Buffalo; The Duhks; Bela Fleck Acoustic Trio featuring Casey Driessen & Bryan Sutton; John Hiatt, Corey Harris; The John Jorgenson Quintet; Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, King Wilkie, The Kruger Brothers; Jim Lauderdale; Robert Lockwood, Jr.; Loretta Lynn; Del McCoury Band; Buddy Miller; Allison Moorer; Tim O’Brien; Railroad Earth; Tony Rice Unit; Peter Rowan; Darrell Scott; Earl Scruggs; Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder; Joe Thompson & Bob Carlin; and The Waybacks. MerleFest 2005 will offer a reunion of Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys featuring Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, Bobby Hicks, Roland White, Tater Tate, Roland White, Del McCoury, host Peter Rowan, and others. The festival will also present two nights of The Chieftains with guests from the Down the Old Plank Road sessions including Doc, Douglas, Fleck, Hiatt, McCoury, Miller, Moorer, O’Brien, Scruggs, Skaggs, and more.

Those with Internet access may acquire their tickets easily by visiting www.merlefest.org. Those without Internet access may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-343-7857 (US only) or 336-838-6267 (non-US) from 10 AM through 4 PM, EST, weekdays. Tickets may also be ordered by fax (336-838-6277) and mail (MerleFest; P.O. Box 1299; Wilkesboro, NC 28697). Those interested in volunteering for MerleFest should call 336-838-6292. Vendor info: 336-838-6291. Sponsor info: 336-838-6423.

Major MerleFest 2005 sponsors include Al Moss Promotions, BluegrassCountry.org, Burger King, C&J LP Gas Company, Cedar Creek Custom Case Shoppe/TKL, Charter Communications, Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock, Collings Guitars, Curtis Media, Deering Banjo Company, Fender USA; GHS Strings; Gibson Musical Instruments, Hardees/Dermox, Huss and Dalton Guitar Co, Homespun Tapes Ltd., iBluegrass & The Acoustic Network, JBL, J D'Addario & Co, John Pearse Strings, Kaffe Magnum Opus; Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouses, Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC, Sprint, Stelling Banjo Works, Sugar Hill Records, Taylor Guitars, Tyson Foods, Inc., Western Beat Entertainment, Winston-Salem Journal, WNCW Public Radio, WUNC 91.5 FM.