Pickathon



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

Festival Grounds
Pendarvis farm is located in Happy Valley, OR. It has been owned by the Pendarvis family for three generations.

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, drawing from a variety of artistic styles. Each "neighborhood" is integrated into the landscape and utilized based on the time of day, intending to keep people out of the sun.

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
Pickathon is unlike many other popular festivals. It has labeled itself a musical discovery event, featuring a variety of rising artists and deep cuts across a diverse array of genres. Venues are incorporated into the natural landscape of the farm, minimizing the impact of mass-produced and urban design.

The attendance at Pickathon is limited below capacity to prevent overcrowding, improving the individual experience for festival goers. Each artist at the event performs twice at different locations, affording greater flexibility to attendees. Pickathon is accessible to families, all ages are welcome during the event.

Vendors featured at the festival reflect the influential food and drink scene found in the Pacific Northwest. Water is free and abundant on tap throughout the grounds. Pickathon also offers access to wellness programming on site.

In 2023 Pickathon was cited as "the best Indie Festival in the Country"

Sustainability
Over the years, Pickathon has been recognized for a number of sustainable practices. It offers eco-friendly transportation and encourages biking to the festival. During 2010–11, Pickathon eliminated all plastic and single use dishware, the first large U.S. festival to do so. Patrons are expected to bring tableware from home or exchange with a vendor at each meal through tokens purchased on site. Dishes and utensils procured through this system are to be kept afterwards. Pickathon makes use of sustainable fuels, and in 2023 was the first festival to use a zero emission hydrogen generator to power a stage. Additionally, groups of volunteer recycling and composting teams work throughout the festival. Pickathon has promised to work towards more sustainable options in the future.

History
Pickathon started in 1999 as a fundraiser for the FM radio station, KBOO. The first venue was Horning's Hideout, a private park in North Plains, Oregon. The first event only hosted around 90 people, including performers. Attendance stayed relatively low until 2004 with attendance reaching the low hundreds. Pickathon's founder, Zale Schoenborn, suggested it took "a miracle for the festival to survive through those rough first years". In 2005, Horning's Hideout backed out two months before the 7th annual event was scheduled. Festival organizers found a replacement property called Pudding River in Woodburn, Oregon. This was the first year with both running water and electricity.

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

Pickathon was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.

Digital Content
Pickathon is livestreamed annually through it's YouTube account. The channel features an abundance of musical performance and festival recordings from over the years.