The 2011 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase will be held October 22-23 at the Bearsville Theate in Woodstock, New York. The event is an alternative guitar show, featuring fine, contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed musical instruments, exhibited by their makers.

Entering its third year as a public event, the Woodstock Invitational has attained a reputation as a "small and prestigious" national guitar festival with an international reach. Promoting the art of lutherie, The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is a low-key, laid-back event for the community of acoustic stringed-instrument builders, players, collectors and aficionados. Fine, handmade acoustic instruments such as these are not usually available in music stores or other retail environments. This is a rare opportunity for the public to see, hear, play, buy or commission custom-made instruments – the finest examples of the luthiers’ art – gathered together in one place. Meet the builders, discuss custom instruments, and hear some fine music. Classical and flamenco and steel-string guitars – flattops, archtops, manouche, resonators, hybrids – plus mandolins, lutes, ouds, ukuleles, banjos, violins and bows will be on display in the Bearsville Theater. Vendors Annex right next door to the Bearsville Theater in Todd Rundgren’s old Utopia Soundstage, including fine wood dealers, parts and tool suppliers, string and accessories manufacturers, decorative inlay and custom finish artists, publications and instructional materials, and our Sponsors, plus a Special Exhibit of rare and significant historic, vintage and contemporary instruments loaned by major collectors.

There will be live music, including luthier mini-concerts, demonstrations and special appearances throughout both days, by some of the region’s finest musicians, in the Bearsville Theater Lounge, included in the price of admission. There is also a series of instructional clinics and workshops for players, plus seminars and colloquia for builders, by separate admission. There are associated concerts of acoustic music featuring internationally known artists. Performers at previous Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcases include Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Vicki Genfan, Vic Juris, John Sebastian, Happy Traum, Ara Dinkjian Trio, Julian Lage, Bill Keith & Mark Patton, Kinloch Nelson, Paul Asbell, Frederick Hand, and more.

Learn more at woodstockinvitational.com.