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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

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After Woolsey Fire, age-old music competition scrambles to find new location

The Western Town movie set on Paramount Ranch was one of the first victims of the Woolsey Fire. Several hikers stopped to look at the ruins as they passed.
The Western Town movie set on Paramount Ranch was one of the first victims of the Woolsey Fire. And it hosted the 59-year-old Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest.
(
Caleigh Wells/KPCC
)

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After Woolsey Fire, age-old music competition scrambles to find new location

The Woolsey Fire claimed 1,500 structures last fall. A few of them comprised Western Town, a wild west movie set nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains. But when it wasn’t filled with cameras and horses, it hosted a 59-year-old tradition that brings together thousands of musicians every year. The day the surrounding trails opened, one of the musicians came to inspect the rubble.

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