Please look for the Turtlegrass banner to find a slow jam hosted by friendly Taborgrassers at the festivals listed here.
Steeplegrass Reunion: Lewisville Park, WA. Sunday, May 19th noon to 4pm. This one day festival is a great way to start your journey through the all the festivals this summer. There are a lot of Taborgrassers who attend, so you will have friends. It is in a beautiful setting along the Lewis River. We have a large shelter so rain or shine. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be on the grill. There is a $10. suggested donation.
Goldendale Pickers Festival: May 31st to June 2nd. $10 gets you ten million stars — and all the genuine old time, country and bluegrass music you can carry. It also gets you camping for the weekend. The festival is free to anyone not camping.Join a group of music lovers who have reserved Ekone Park in Goldendale, Washington for an informal weekend-long picking party. Goldendale is a lovely, welcoming community featuring an observatory right up the hill from the festival.
Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival: Fossil, OR. July 5th to July 7th. This festival is hot. I recommend you throw an inflatable wading pool in the back of the car before you leave town for this one. This weekend always holds some of my fondest memories of the summer. There is a parade on Friday, a car rally all weekend with an Elvis impersonator. The main stage is at the Courthouse lawn which is nicely shaded.
Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival: Stevenson WA. July 25th to July 28th. This is the largest festival of the year in this area. Lots of national acts on the big stage, a beer garden, a dance hall, workshops, food and instrument vendors. The view of the gorge from this location in the fairgrounds is spectacular. Plus there is a sizable pond for canoeing or kayaking. Reservations for big RVs and camping need to be made well in advance. It’s windy folks. Stake all your stuff down, including the kids and dogs. My 10x10 canopy was half way to Idaho before I caught up to it a few years back.
Winlock Picker’s Festival: Winlock, WA. August 2nd to 4th. This small and very friendly festival is located in beautiful Winolequa Park. This is one of the best jamming festivals especially if you are new to the scene. The snack bar serves a basic breakfast and sells hot dogs and hamburgers. The train tracks just on the other side of the trees are long and straight and the trains are fast. The jingle, rumble and the roar provide a nice back up rhythm if you are singing or snoring in A flat.
Mount St. Helens Bluegrass Festival: Toledo, WA. August 9th to 11th. I gotta say this is one of my favorite festivals. It’s located on the High School grounds, there is wide open lawn and beautiful oak groves to camp under. You have to get there early to find a spot under the oaks. There are band scrambles, a gospel show on Sunday, workshops and a snack shop.Showers too. You will probably get a friendly visit from the General, the man in charge, driving his golf cart through the festival grounds each day.
Tygh Valley Jamboree: Tygh Valley, OR. September 27th to 29th. The finale festival of the season, this one is special for that reason and also because it is located in a beautiful valley in central Oregon surrounded by rocky buttes with clear skies at night and a billion stars. Settle in under the locust trees for some of the best jamming of the summer. Bring ear plugs if you want to get any sleep that weekend. Big RVs need to reserve a space well in advance.
