They're going to be fiddling around at the Alamo on Saturday, in the first of a series of events which mark a new effort to 'draw visitors into the story' of one of the most famous battles in the Western Hemisphere, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Alamo Chief Operating Officer Ian Oldeker says 'Fiddle Fest' will bring together some of the best fiddle players from a variety of genres for an all day event that is open to the public on Saturday.
"This is a different kind of event where we have a lot of celebration," he says. "We will bring in a lot of world renowned artists."
He says the Alamo connection to this event is stronger than you might think.
"This harks back to some legends about Davy Crockett that he had a fiddle during the seiege and used to play," Oldaker said. "There is no historical confirmation to this, but there is the legend that he was there sort of surviving the seige with his fiddle."
He says the Alamo will also be looking at several 'different kinds' of angles to the Alamo siege in 1836, with commemorations of the Mexican troops who fought at the Alamo and with a new exhibition called 'Jim Bowie, Man, Knife, Legend," which also opens on Saturday.
"This helps people really get to know the historical figures on a deeper level," he said.
Oldaker, who came to San Antonio to be COO of The Alamo last year after successfully creating the 9-11 Memorial Museum in New York City, says the Fiddle Fest is part of a new avenue of presenting the Alamo to visitors, one which will be capped with the planned major renovation of Alamo Plaza, creation of a major museum to house the Phil Collins Collection of Alamo Memorabilia, and moving the Cenotaph to a new location on the San Antonio River where it can act as a 'gateway to the Alamo.'
"This will bring people into the experience more," he said. "Give them some different options so they can literally touch the history."