Mouth of Wilson, Va. — Registration is open for guitarists who wish to compete in the 23rd annual Wayne C. Henderson Music Festival and Guitar Competition at Grayson Highlands State Park. The winner will be awarded a handmade Henderson guitar.

Applications must be received before May 1. To register, send a completed application form and a $20 fee by personal check or money order payable to the Wayne C. Henderson Guitar Competition. Download the form from www.waynehenderson.org and mail it to: Wayne Henderson Guitar Competition, c/o Herb Key, 1423 Dragway Road, Wilkesboro, NC 28697.

Twenty contestant applications and 10 alternate contestant applications will be selected. The first 20 will be drawn at random and approved as contestants by the contestant selection committee.

The next 10 will be drawn at random and approved as alternates. Other prizes are second place, $250; third, $150, fourth, $100; and fifth, $75. (These winners also will be eligible for the 2018 contest by simply sending in an application and fee.) All competitors receive free passes to the festival.

The family-friendly festival will be June 17, rain or shine, at Grayson Highlands State Park in Mouth of Wilson.

Performing will be the Krüger Brothers, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, the Looping Brothers, Betty and the Bullet, Strictly Strings, and Wayne Henderson and Friends. Free children’s events and music are scheduled, too. Admission is $20, and children 12 and younger get in free. There is a state park parking fee.

Since the festival began in 1995, more than $160,500 has been awarded to aid young, local, traditional musicians in continuing their music exploration and education.

Learn more at www.waynehenderson.org