Made from a stick, some wire and a discarded old cigar box, the Cigar Box Guitar is about as simple and unassuming as an instrument can be.  Yet, homegrown and humble as it is, the cigar box guitar has played an essential role in our nation’s musical history. From its origins around the 1880's through the depression of the 1930's, it has symbolized the triumph of ingenuity.  Many well-known performers in our history, with no money for a store-bought guitar began their musical journey by cobbling one together.  Lightnin' Hopkins, Roy Clark and Ritchie Valens to name just a few. 

Today there is a resurgent interest in the cigar box guitar.  A growing number of instrument builders and performers serve as a reminder to our ultra-commercial, high tech society that great music doesn't require a $3,000 brand-name guitar, and doesn't have to filter through corporate Hollywood or Nashville.

Fri. Oct. 3rd   7 PM  Fingerlakes Community College Stage 13.	"Songs Inside the Box"	Special screening of the acclaimed cigar box guitar documentary film by Max Shores
Fri. Oct. 3rd   8 PM	Kick-Off Concert
	Our early-arriving performers get things started with an impromptu performance.
Fingerlakes Community College Stage 13.
Sat.  Oct. 4th 10 AM	Children's Cigarbox Guitar Building Workshop
Kid's Korridor Main Street Canandaigua	Kid's age 5 to 12 can experience the fun of constructing a functional instrument.
Sat.  Oct. 4th	National Cigarbox Guitar Museum
All-Things-Art 65 S. Main St. Canandaigua.	Artifacts from the museum will be on display all day.  Some dating back as far as the 1870's.
Sat.  Oct. 4th 2 PM	Cigarbox Guitar Building Workshop
All-Things-Art 65 S. Main St. Canandaigua.	Build a simple Cigar Box Guitar. Moderate hand tool skills helpful.
Sat.  Oct. 4th	Showcase Performances
Locations to be announced.	A number of artists in intimate performance settings, throughout the day - in and around Canandaigua.
Sat.  Oct. 4th   7 PM	Multi-Act Concert Cigarbox Guitar Revue
All-Things-Art 65 S. Main St. Canandaigua.	Celebrated performers from all around the country  in one magical concert Saturday night

There will be a number of talented guitar builders in attendance with instruments offered for sale, notable among these are:
Papa's Boxes Syracuse, NY	Ted Crocker New Jersey	Blind Doughboy From Deep in the Ozarks
Bill Moore specializes in some fantastic cigar box ukuleles.  Currently 4 of his creations are being used in the off-Broadway NYC musical production;Sex, Drugs and Ukuleles.	The consummate guitar building craftsman- (cigar box, and otherwise.)  Ted's Honeydripper is the "star" of the current motion picture of the same name.	Ron Marr's innovative guitars and dulcimers are legendary, as are his efforts to provide instruments to our troops in Iraq -  through a program he calls:  Iraq and Roll.