What started as a fiddling contest 33 years ago has become one on the finest – and nearly the only free – bluegrass festival in the West.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Prescott Bluegrass Festival comes once again to the courthouse plaza in the heart of downtown. Featuring some of the ruggedest players on the bluegrass festival circuit, hard-core fans and casual listeners will be treated to tunes from the likes of The Sonoran Dogs (who will also perform a special show Saturday evening with special guest Lee McFaughlin), the Mars Hillbillies from Flagstaff, Utah’s Bost Family Traditions and Prescott’s own Thumb Brutes.

Presented by the Prescott Chamber of Commerce and a host of local and corporate sponsors, the event isn’t just about what takes place on stage. “We’ll have a lot for folks to do,” Chamber of Commerce Events Coordinator Scott Currey said. “A lot of people come to these festivals just to jam, and we’ve reserved the whole front side of the courthouse for jamming.”