Pickathon

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The Pickathon Music Festival (commonly called Pickathon or Pickathon Festival) is an annual three day music festival located just outside of Portland, Oregon, in Happy Valley on Pendarvis Farm.[1] Occurring every August since 1999, the festival has featured a variety of artists and genres including: Indie, Rock, Rap, Folk, and Bluegrass.[1] Pickathon also offers camping, and food options on site. The festival is well known for promoting more sustainable environmental practices; offering eco-friendly transportation, use of sustainable fuel and solar energy, recycling and composting, and the elimination of plastic tableware.[1][2] Unlike many other successful music festivals, Pickathon has no corporate sponsors and caps ticket sales.[3] With ticket sales capped the festival founder, Zale Schoenborn, was forced to get creative and set up live streams and cameras to package the edited footage as digital content.[3][4]

Location and Festival Grounds[]

The Pickathon Music Festival takes place in Happy Valley, OR around Pendarvis Farm. Pickathon now offers biking food alternatives onsite. The festival is famous for encouraging sustainable ecological methods; supplying green transport, usage of renewable gas and solar technology, recycling and also the removal of vinyl tableware.

Pendarvis Farm[]

Pendarvis farm is an 88 acre property located in Happy Valley, OR. Starting in 2006 the festival has been held here. Previously the festival was held at Hornings Hideout just outside of the Portland area.

Camping[]

In addition to its sustainability Pickathon is known for its variety of on-site stay options. Festival patrons have had access to several camping locations as well as RV stay for most of the events history.

Food[]

The festival has featured several popular restaurants from the Portland area including: Pine State Biscuits, Podnahs, Robo Taco, and Stumptown Coffee. Outdoor dining areas are widely available throughout the festival grounds.

Organization[]

As part of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company received between $150,000 and $350,000 in federally backed small business loans from US Bank as part of the Paycheck Protection Program. The company stated it would allow them to retain 3 jobs.[5]

Environmental Sustainability[]

Over the years, Pickathon has gained notability for promoting more sustainable practices.[1] They offer eco-friendly transportation and encourage biking to the festival.[1][2] In addition, in 2011, they eliminated all plastic tableware, and in turn also became the first large outdoor U.S. festival to do so.[1] This means you either have to bring tableware or purchase/borrow from a vendor.[1][2] Pickathon also uses its own solar energy and sustainable fuel through their partnership with the company Star Oilco.[2] There's also a group of volunteer recycling and composting teams.[2] Pickathon has promised to keep working towards more sustainable options for the future.[1][2]

History[]

1999-2004[]

Pickathon originally started in 1999 as a fundraiser for the FM radio station, KBOO.[6] The first venue was Horning's Hideout, a private park in North Plains, Oregon.[6] The first annual Pickathon only managed to host around ninety people, including performers.[6] Despite the low attendance, a discouraged Schoenborn continued the festival the following year at the Horning's Hideout.[6] Attendance growth stayed relatively low through 2004 with attendance bouncing around the low and high two-hundreds.[6] Schoenborn suggested it took a miracle for the festival to survive through those rough first years.[6]

Avett Brothers Performing at Pickathon, 2006

2005[]

In 2005, Horning's Hideout backed out two months before the 7th annual event was scheduled.[6] Schoenborn and other organizers, scrambling to find a venue, found an open property in Woodburn, Oregon.[6] This was the first year they had running water and electricity.[6] Along with the water and electricity, it was also the first year they met GuildWorks, an event fabric architecture installation company.[6][7]

2006[]

In 2006, Pickathon would see their second relocation; this time to ending up at Pendarvis Farms in Happy Valley, Oregon.[6] This would become their location to this day.[2][6]

Warpaint Performing at 2014 Pickathon

2011[]

In an effort to become more environmentally friendly, Pickathon eliminated all plastic tableware.[1]

2019[]

On August 8, two arborists and workers of GuildWorks died when a boom lift, which was set on an incline, toppled over during takedown of the festival.[8] In a statement released by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, the workers were ascending the lift when the incident occurred.[9] 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.[10] A memorial fund was created for both of the victim's families.[8]

2020[]

Pickathon was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

2021[]

Pickathon was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Pickathon Music Festival". Portland. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Info". Pickathon. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  3. ^ a b "Can Pickathon Survive its Own Success?". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  4. ^ Notarianni, John. "Pickathon At 20: The Local Festival With The Global Audience". www.opb.org. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  5. ^ Syed, Moiz; Willis, Derek. "PICKATHON LLC - Coronavirus Bailouts - ProPublica". ProPublica. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "How Pickathon Became Portland's Biggest Little Music Festival". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  7. ^ "GuildWorks ~ Architecture of the Air". GuildWorks ~ Architecture of the Air. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  8. ^ a b "GuildWorks Releases Information About Workers Killed During Pickathon Breakdown Last Week". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  9. ^ "Sheriff's Office responds to fatal boom-lift accident that killed two arborists at Pickathon site | Clackamas County". www.clackamas.us. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  10. ^ Ramakrishnan, Jayati (February 12, 2020). "OSHA fines companies after accident that killed 2 at Oregon's Pickathon festival". The Oregonian. Retrieved February 13, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b Gormley, Shannon. "Pickathon Is Canceled for the Second Summer in a Row". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2021-06-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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