Little Pickers Family Area 
The Little Pickers Area offers a lot of fun and games for the children (and the young at heart) as well as some fine storytelling, songwriting, and music!
Our youth are becoming increasingly interested in the music of our region, and as an educational institution, one of our goals is to preserve and promote the heritage of our area. One key way we accomplish this is to expose young people to the world of music and hopefully, instill a respect and love for “traditional-plus” music. The Little Pickers Stage has been expanded and seating doubled due to its popularity. Programming in this area has been expanded as well.
The popular Youth Showcase has now been expanded to three performances - Friday from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30-10:30 a.m. as well as 4:30-5:30 p.m. Young people, ages 16 and under are encouraged to click on Youth Showcase to apply to participate. Applications will be taken and participation is on a first come, first served basis. This is not a contest. The Youth Showcase provides young people of any talent level the opportunity to display their skills on stage at the festival. There is no additional cost to participate in the Youth Showcase.
Activities in the Little Pickers Area have been enhanced with creative arts and activities for all ages of children.
NOTE: Children 12 and under are admitted FREE to general admission seating areas (accompanied by adult); however, tickets are required for all seats in the reserved seating area
Special Entertainment
The Little Pickers Stage performers include unique acts selected with children in mind. Performers include:
- Alberti Flea Circus
- The InterACTive Theater of Jef
- The MerleFest Youth Showcase hosted by Andy May
- Susana and Timmy Abell
- Buffalo Barfield and P. Doddle Possum
Special Activities and Crafts
The Little Pickers Area is full of activities for all ages! Bubble fun, pictures with Flattop, climbing wall, sand play, face painting and so much more! Look for the big tent to find all of our crafts. Crafts include:
- Painting
- Play Dough Art
- Crayon Art
- Shimmer Bottles
- Htas
- Sand Art
- Mural Wall
- Bead Necklaces
- Scrap Exchange
- Climbing Wall
- Build & Grow Clinic