Last weekend, the Original Dulcimer Players Club returned to Evart for their 50th annual FunFest.
The three-day event will be taking place at the Osceola County Fairgrounds from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. More than 200 workshops are offered throughout the days, giving players the chance to learn new songs, skills or instruments.
Club President, Brian Burchett, says many people consider it a “players’ festival” because of the focus on playing music.
“[We] don’t mean to exclude people who just love to listen to music, we have our concerts in the evenings and people are welcome to listen in on the jam sessions,” said Burchett.
The festival is not limited to just dulcimer players either. Workshops for guitar, fiddle, harp, vocals and even dance are being offered. According to Burchett, playing music with multiple different instruments adds to the experience in multiple ways.
“All the different instruments have a slightly different voice and so they help make the sound rich,” said Burchett. “And we if it were only dulcimer players playing music together, it wouldn’t be as much fun as when we have a variety of instruments.”
Doug Hudson says he and his wife have been coming to the Dulcimer Festival for nine years.
“After the concert is over at 10, most people go home (that) is when this place picks up and there’s jamming that goes on all night long,” said Hudson.
Hudson says he has an “eclectic” taste in music that the festival satisfies through the variety of instruments and music genres being played all around.
The ODPC is a nonprofit and Burchett says they charge $10 for a one-day pass or $20 for a three-day, because all they want to do is break even and keep the festival alive.
“We’re not trying to make money; we’re just trying to introduce people to this music,” said Burchett. “We want to make sure that people know it’s here, we think that if people come and experience it, they’ll probably fall in love with it and come back.”
According to Burchett, the club was formed 61 years ago but the generation that made and played dulcimers in Michigan created the club after becoming concerned about their knowledge of the instrument being lost.
Burchett says now the festival is a place for people to hang out and come together through their shared love.
“It’s an entirely different experience because you’re with other people and you’re creating something in the moment and I think that’s what makes it so special,” Burchett said. “It’s almost like a homecoming.”
Burchett also says the festival gives people a few days free from the upsetting things in life.
“It’s a place where nobody cares who you voted for, I think we need more places where we can set aside those things that otherwise we fight about and just play music together,” he said.
