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Pickathon

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Pickathon
DatesAugust 1–4
Location(s)Pendarvis Farm (Happy Valley, OR)
Coordinates45.440480, −122.492902
Years active1999–2019, 2022–present
Attendance5000 paid attendees a day
Websitehttps://pickathon.com/
Woods Stage at Pickathon 2022

Pickathon is an annual four-day music festival located just outside Portland, Oregon on Pendarvis Farm.[1][2] Occurring every first weekend in August, the festival hosts notable artists from genres including indie, rock, hip-hop, folk, jazz, rhythm and blues, and bluegrass.[1]

History

[edit]
Avett Brothers performing at Pickathon 2006
Warpaint performing at Pickathon 2014

Pickathon started in 1999 as a fundraiser for the FM radio station, KBOO.[3] The first venue was Horning's Hideout, a private park in North Plains, Oregon.[3] The first event only hosted around 90 people, including performers.[3] Attendance stayed relatively low until 2004 with attendance reaching the low hundreds.[3] Pickathon founder Zale Schoenborn suggested it took "a miracle for the festival to survive through those rough first years".[3]

In 2005, Horning's Hideout backed out two months before the 7th annual event was scheduled.[4][3] Festival organizers found a replacement property called Pudding River in Woodburn, Oregon.[5][3] This was the first year with both running water and electricity.[3]

In 2006, Pickathon relocated to Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon.[3] This has remained the location since.[6][3]

In August 2019, two arborists employed by GuildWorks died when a boom lift, which was set on an incline, toppled over during the takedown of the festival.[7] In February 2020, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued $31,000 in fines to Pickathon LLC and GuildWorks LLC for failing to follow safety precautions.[8] OSHA determined safety violations by Pickathon and GuildWorks caused the deaths of the two arborists. One of the arborists family has filed a lawsuit against Pickathon along with several other companies.[9]

Pickathon was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Past recordings were livestreamed via Pickathon's YouTube page in a series called "A Concert A Day" in an effort to support musicians during the pandemic.[11]

Festival grounds

[edit]

Pendarvis Farm is located in Happy Valley, OR. It has been owned by the Pendarvis family for three generations.[12][13]

Pickathon's venues are distributed throughout the 80 acre property, consisting of barns, fields, and forest traversable by a road and trail system. In addition to the primary lot, adjacent properties employed by Pickathon are under the current ownership.

Distinct areas of the grounds become "neighborhoods" during the festival (see below), drawing from a variety of artistic styles.[14]

Because of the abundance of natural landscape, the festival provides ample room for camping. With the purchase of a weekend pass, camping is free to attendees.

Festival experience

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Pickathon is unlike many other popular festivals.[15] Attendance is limited below capacity to prevent overcrowding. Each artist at the event performs twice at different locations. Pickathon is accessible to families, with activities and events planned for all ages..[16]

At Pickathon, venues are incorporated into "neighborhoods" that recognize the natural landscape of the farm, minimizing the impact of mass-produced and urban design. Time of day and shading are significant factors in neighborhood planning, with events scheduled to keep people out of the sun. Each neighborhood is planned by a different design-build team through Pickathon's nonprofit, Creative Neighborhoods. While neighborhoods and their offerings change from year to year, a few of the standards are listed below,

Coyote Neighborhood

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The family-focused Coyote Neighborhood hosts activities for children of all ages, as well as kid-friendly performers. Friends of Noise, a Portland-based nonprofit, organizes the youth performers and volunteers. Activities have included:

  • Free child care provided by Cedarwood Waldorf School in the forest.
  • Music Together of Portland: sing-a-longs each morning.
  • My Voice Music: workshops and an annual talent show.
  • Trackers Earth: wilderness adventures, foam archery, hands-on folk crafts, and immersive role-playing games.
  • Family Yoga with storytelling.
  • Sellwood Community House: curated activities for teens and tweens.

Refuge Neighborhood

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This neighborhood caters to Pickathon’s Wellness offerings, such as massages, saunas, cold plunge tanks, sound baths, sound therapy, and somatic movement classes.[17] Some of these personal services require additional fees. Other features include a wishing wall, reading nooks with canopies, botanical weaving walls, a rustic lending library, and a performance stage.

Market Neighborhood

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The Market Neighborhood aims to provide a "vibrant bizarre," including food and drinks from local restaurants and a full farmer’s market.[18] Craft vendors selling handmade items come from across the Pacific Northwest.

Water is free and available on tap throughout the grounds.

In 2023 Pickathon was cited as "the best Indie Festival in the Country".[19]

Sustainability

[edit]
How Pickathon's reusable dishware sysmtem works

Over the years, Pickathon has been recognized for a number of sustainable practices.[20][21] It offers eco-friendly transportation and encourages biking to the festival.[22][23] Starting in 2010–11, Pickathon eliminated all plastic and single-use dishware, the first large U.S. festival to do so.[24] Patrons are expected to bring tableware or can pay a nominal fee to use eco-friendly plates and utensils on site, through a token system. At the end of the festival, attendees who pay the fee can take home a set of Pickathon-branded dishes and utensils.

Pickathon makes use of sustainable fuels, and in 2023 was the first festival to use a zero emission hydrogen generator to power a stage.[25] Solar device charging is available on site. Additionally, groups of volunteer recycling and composting teams work throughout the festival. Pickathon has promised to work towards more sustainable options in the future.[26]


Digital content

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Pickathon is livestreamed annually through its YouTube account.[27] The channel features an abundance of musical performance and festival recordings from over the years. Music from each year's lineup is also featured on a Pickathon playlist on Spotify.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pickathon Music Festival". Travel Portland. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Pendarvis Farm · 16581 SE Hagen Rd, Happy Valley, OR 97086". Pendarvis Farm · 16581 SE Hagen Rd, Happy Valley, OR 97086. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Matthew Singer (3 August 2016). "How Pickathon Became Portland's Biggest Little Music Festival". Willamette Week. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  4. ^ Busse, Phil. "Let The Shows Go On!". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  5. ^ "Pickathon at Pudding River". Jambands. 2005-07-26. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  6. ^ "Info". Pickathon LLC. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  7. ^ Singer, Matthew (13 August 2019). "GuildWorks Releases Information About Workers Killed During Pickathon Breakdown Last Week". Willamette Week. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  8. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (February 12, 2020). "OSHA fines companies after accident that killed 2 at Oregon's Pickathon festival". The Oregonian. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Ding, Jaimie (2021-01-31). "Family of arborist killed in Pickathon boom lift fall sues, alleging negligence". oregonlive. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  10. ^ Gormley, Shannon (19 June 2021). "Pickathon Is Canceled for the Second Summer in a Row". Willamette Week. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  11. ^ Pickathon (2020-04-08). "A Concert A Day". Pickathon. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  12. ^ Dusty, Darka. "Pickathon: The Rebel Festival". Vortex Music Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  13. ^ Oregonian, Special to The (2010-07-22). "Pendarvis Farm gets ready to host fifth annual Pickathon". oregonlive. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  14. ^ "Music, Arts, & Culture Lineups Guide!". Pickathon. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  15. ^ Ferguson, Neil (2023-08-08). "Mikaela Davis, MJ Lenderman, Butcher Brown, GA-20 & Wednesday Impress At Pickathon 2023 (FESTIVAL REVIEW/PHOTOS)". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  16. ^ "Pickathon is for the Whole Family - PDX Parent". pdxparent.com/. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  17. ^ "Wellness at Pickathon 2022: Yoga, Sound Baths, DIY Aromatherapy, and More!". EverOut Portland. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  18. ^ "Chefs and Musicians Share the Stage at Pickathon". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  19. ^ "Pickathon Showed Why It's the Best Indie Festival in the Country". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  20. ^ Roberts, David (2013-06-20). "Can a music festival be sustainable? Pickathon is finding out". Grist. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  21. ^ "How 'diversion architecture' will make outdoor concert festivals more sustainable". Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building | Green design & innovation for a better world. 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  22. ^ "Guide to Getting to Pickathon". Pickathon. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  23. ^ "Going to Pickathon? Here's How to Pedal There". Bridgeliner. 2021-07-14. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  24. ^ Alexander, Gemma (2018-10-15). "Pick Sustainable Music Festivals". Earth911. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  25. ^ Young, Clive (2023-07-31). "Oregon Festival to Power Stages with Hydrogen". Mixonline. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  26. ^ "Zero Waste Festival?". Pickathon. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  27. ^ Pickathon (2023-08-05). "Pickathon Streaming Live on YouTube". Pickathon. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
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