by Kelley Schaefer-Levi
Over the weekend of August 3-5th, I spent three days with my daughter and a few friends with their kiddos at Oregon’s destination roots music festival, Pickathon. Throughout the weekend we watched bands from as close as Portland and as far as Sierra Leone. It was an utterly amazing experience; one that has us already planning our return next year. Despite intense heat, our kids had a blast at Pickathon. They enjoyed Circus Camp; learning how to walk on stilts, juggle and how to balance on a tight rope with the folks from Circus Cascadia, and enjoyed watching the Cardboard Songsters perform at the Kids’ Show on Saturday morning. The Songsters didn’t disappoint with funny sing-a-longs, a few special guests, and a dynamic stage show with lots of cardboard scenes and props. My daughter’s favorite song of the day was the tale of the infamous Abiyoyo. She was awestruck by the story and by the appearance of the very large cardboard giant; she’s still talking about it almost two weeks later. On Sunday morning we found Music Together in the Workshop Barn where the kids had a great time playing instruments and singing familiar songs in a group, and later we trekked to the Woods Stage for Kids’ Open Mic, which was a huge highlight of the weekend. Kids of all ages played instruments and sang songs for a large audience, and we really loved watching them.
As newbies to the festival, we weren’t sure what to expect. I had spoken with one of the founders, Zale Schoenborn, in May about how family friendly the festival had become in recent years, but I was still a little bit skeptical. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by how much Pickathon catered to families. Our kids are all under the age of seven, and we just weren’t sure they could hack the heat and hiking up hills in the woods, but they were troopers. They loved running the trails of Pendarvis Farm and the sense of freedom they felt in the woods, and we brought a heavy duty stroller for them when they were too tired to hike. My concerns about long waits for the bathroom were unfounded as there seemed no shortage of open porta potties. We brought a hefty supply of food with us, so didn’t spend a lot of money at the festival. We did, however, enjoy a few meals provided by the purveyors on hand and the food was well worth the wait. There was also plenty of water available, which was a must in the heat.
We camped in the woods, where the campsites were primitive, but the kids loved it, and found some inventive ways to entertain themselves that can really only be experienced while camping in the woods. Sleeping was had by all of the kids, but the adults not so much; guess that’s what we get for growing up.
I can’t really say enough about how incredible the lineup was at Pickathon this year. I discovered so much new music and saw a few highly anticipated performances. Some of my favorites were Los Cojolites, Lake Street Dive (holy smokes that singer has a voice), The Hot 8 Brass band, Neko Case, and Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, but really everyone we saw was pretty great.
A few pieces of advice for families who might like to go to Pickathon for the first time next year. Spend the extra money to send someone in your party to early arrival Thursday where they can find campsites for everyone without having to hike up with the kids. We did this and it made a huge difference when the kids came the following day. Wear sensible shoes for slippery dirt and dust. Bring a first aid kit with tons of sunscreen, bug spray and even if your kids are past the days of baby wipes, bring them anyway. If you have issues with dirt, prepare yourself because you will be partially covered with it most of the time, particularly if you’re camping in the woods, but it’s all worth it. There are showers that seemed to be booked each time we passed them, so festivalgoers are taking advantage of cleaning up. We didn’t this year, but are considering it next time around. All in all, upon returning home we have fond memories of our first Pickathon experience and look forward to the next.
Photos courtesy of Jennifer Pagliaro. Jennifer is a photographer, artist, crafter, maker and letterpress greeting card printer. She lives with her two boys and husband in Portland. For more information and to view her work visit, waterknot.com.
