The 1998 World Gold Panning Championships were held at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. Marshall Park is located on the South Fork of the American River in Coloma, California, the site of the original gold discovery that triggered the 1849 California Gold Rush.
Schedule Of Events
The 1998 World Gold Panning Championships are a part of "Gold Rush Days". This event will include Gold Rush Music, Merchants' Market, Historic Tent City, Period Trade Demonstrations, Living History, Excursions, Historic Building Tours, Games, and a variety of food.
Monday, September 28, 1998
Registration begins, excursion to local gold rush towns, practice panning sessions at river
Tuesday, September 29, 1998
Registration continues, excursion to gold rush towns and mines, practice panning sessions at the river
Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Registration continues international gold symposium in museum, excursion to local gold mines, optional gold panning in Auburn area, practice panning sessions at the river
Thursday, October 1, 1998
International parade and opening ceremonies, gold symposium continues, practice panning in competition area, team heats begin in afternoon, evening gathering in big tent with music
Friday, October 2, 1998
Preliminary heats in all categories, evening presentation by 1999 World Gold Panning Championships Host Country: Czech Republic, in big tent, with music
Saturday, October 3, 1998
Semi-finals in all categories, specialty events, evening banquet and entertainment
Sunday, October 4, 1998
Finals in all categories, closing ceremonies and awards
Other Exciting Activities
Special excursions to local goldrush towns and mines: $25.00 per person. Tours may vary from day to day.
Monday, September 28, 1998
Mine tour and history excursion to local towns
Tuesday, September 29, 1998
Mine tour and history excursion to local towns
Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Mine tour and history excursion to local towns
Banquet dinner Saturday evening in the Big Tent, includes musical entertainment and special keepsake gift $25.00 per person.
Optional events to be held: Nugget Race, Special Competition Categories. these will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis during the week of the event.
Other excursions and activities such as: Wine Tasting Tours, River Rafting may be available.
Location
The Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Park is in Coloma, on State Highway 49, between U.S. Highway 50 and Interstate 80, about one hour east of Sacramento.
Map (11k)
The Event
The event runs Monday through Sunday, September 28-October 4. This certified championship event is sponsored by the State of California and the Gold Discovery Park Association following the guidelines established by the World Gold Panning Association. It will be conducted in a gold panning competition area especially designed by the California State Parks.
Although the event will be a serious competition for skilled men and women gold panners, it will also feature contests for beginners, youths, juniors, teams, and seniors. To encourage novices and youths, professional gold panners will be on site to offer gold panning lessons and assistance.
For those who have never tried gold panning, this is an opportunity to take a lesson, practice at the river, and then come and join the fun.
Registration
The 1998 World Gold Panning Championships will consist of the following event categories:
|
Men's Skilled |
$50.00 |
To enter in more than one category (i.e. -Skilled, Team, Seniors) include an additional $20.00 per person.
Due to limited contest space, early registration is highly recommended. Early registration includes weekend parking pass and park entry fees for one vehicle; this also includes admission to the park.
To register contact the Park at the numbers or address below.
For More Information
For more information call (916) 622-6198 or 622-3470 or write to the U.S. National Gold Panning Championships, Gold Discovery Park Association, P.O. Box 461, Coloma, California, 95613.
Related Reading
Your family can learn about the California Gold Rush with books from our Coloma-Lotus Book Store.
The Gold Rush is written by Liza Ketchum with an introduction by Stephen Ives and Ken Burns. It is a great book for children ages 9-12. The Gold Rush describes how, in January 1848, gold was found in California and quickly caused the country's largest migration as people from all over the world left everything they had behind in the hopes of striking it rich in the West. (September 1996)
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