Waterfront Blues Festival
Blues fans should mark their calendars for the 2012 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival July 4 – 8 on the waterfront in downtown Portland. The festival features 150 acts and four stages, along with cool extras like “Blues” cruises on the Willamette, intimate “After-Hours All-Stars Concerts” in the Marriott Hotel Ballroom, and with a fireworks display on opening night.
There is something for everyone with acts ranging from Steve Miller to Galactic, and Bobby Rush to Toots and the Maytals.
The festival raises money for the Oregon Food Bank’s mission to eliminate hunger and its root causes, so there is a $10 suggested donation; plus two cans of food per person, per day. Specialty passes with sweet perks are also available. See www.waterfrontbluesfest.com for more info.
Pickathon
The nation’s premier sustainable music festival happens every year on a lush farm outside of Portland, featuring the finest acoustic indie bands from across the lands. Pack up your panniers and bike over to Pendarvis Farm from August 3 – 5. There, you can set up camp alongside forested paths, where new outdoor stages emerge around every bend.
Concertgoers can look forward to local and organic food and beer, free drinking water, musical workshops taught by the performing artists, and free entrance for the kids.
Highlights of this year’s line up include Neko Case, Blitzen Trapper, The Wood Brothers, The Cave Singers and AA Bondy.
See http://pickathon.com/ for more info.
Oregon Jamboree
If country music is more your thing, The Oregon Jamboree takes place the same weekend, August 3 – 5 in Sweet Home. Featuring big names like Rascal Flatts, Wynonna and Neal McCoy, this festival has two stages and twenty-two shows throughout the weekend. Also available are camping sites, beer and wine gardens, and a Kids Zone.
Enjoy the epic surroundings of Sweet Home, a small town between the Cascade Mountains and Santiam River, while soaking in some of the best country music around.
See http://www.oregonjamboree.com/ for more info.
1. Manti. I was married there. I love the rooms and the small iamitnte live sessions. Can't beat the live sessions. Oh and yes, the pterodactyl is cool too. You can almost see the periods of geological time going around the creation room.2. 24: Toronto, Manhattan, Washington, Orlando, Columbus, Kirtland, Chicago, St. Louis, Baton Rouge, Houston, Dallas, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Denver, Idaho Falls, Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Jordan River, Provo, Manti, Oakland, Mexico City, London.3. Lubbock. (Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and Palmyra by satellite) 4. Those listed in #2 plus San Antonio, Monticello, St. George, Timpanogos, Bountiful, Boise, Los Angeles, Switzerland, and Detroit (Detroit was under construction and San Antonio was a few days shy of dedication), for a total of 33. Also been to the sites of the Nauvoo (before it was rebuilt) and Independence temples. I guess I might have seen a few other sites (such as Brigham City), but before they were announced as temple sites.