Look, we’re not gonna say we’ve got the perfect holiday gift ideas, but uhhhh, we do now! Pickathon Merch is now Available Online! If you missed getting merch at the festival, especially those Sustainable Cups and Plates that we all use year round, here’s your chance! Plus we’ve got T-Shirts, Hoodies, Hats, Bandanas, Tank Tops, […]

Kids are a big part of Pickathon, in fact there’s almost a whole family festival of its own inside Pickathon each year. Coyote Neighborhood hosts GRAMMY-winning artists on the stage plus there’s all kinds of activities. It’s like summer camp but without the campfires! PDX Parent came out to Pickathon and has a nice point: […]

Have you been keeping up with the Pickathon Podcasts? Zale from Pickathon has been super busy post festival, and we’ve been dropping a podcast a week ever since. It’s been a great way to reflect on the best parts of Pickathon, tell wild stories about Pickathons past (his interview with Sgt. Papers has a crazy […]

New Pickathon Podcast up this week, Zale’s been busy, busy, busy producing podcasts post Pickathon! Have you subscribed yet? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube and check out some of interviews he’s been doing. The Lee Fields interview in particular is pretty spectacular! He gets into some real cosmic stuff there. W.I.T.C.H. interview is great […]

We’d love to hear from you! What worked at Pickathon 2023, what didn’t work, what thoughts do you have for us to improve the experience in 2024? Put it all down in our survey, and help us make 2024 and even better Pickathon!

Wednesday has already become one of the big breakout success stories from Pickathon 2023! They just lit up Outside Lands, but you saw them first on Pendarvis Farm! Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers was in the audience for their fabled Galaxy Barn set Sunday night and posted on IG that they had “played one of […]

What can we say? That had to be the BEST PICKATHON EVER! The total reboot and redesign from last year fully came together, and Pendarvis Farm became a total immersion experience into a brand new world of creativity, light, and love! It’s a hard world out there, but places like Pickathon are the way forward. […]

THIS IS IT FOLKS, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF PICKATHON! We’ve packed it so incredibly full of amazing experiences, that it’ll fly by like a whirlwind, but you’ll never forget this one! DAY PASSES are still available, so if you’ve been missing out, come down to Pendarvis Farm to party! Yesterday was one for […]

We’ve got Pickathon up and streaming on our YouTube channel for free! We have an army of videographers and editors working around the clock to present this curated stream of live festival performances. You won’t be able to see everyone of course, but we’ve hand-picked what we think will be some of the best performances […]

Located in the beautiful main meadow of Pendarvis Farm, the Paddock is your evening Neighborhood! When the stars start come out, this is where we’ll gather for mainstage performances with views of Mt. Hood in the distance. Paddock will also host a great visual art installation as well as the brand-new Pickathon General Store. This […]

We’re on the Farm today scouting the brand-new location for Pickathon’s Curation events! The deer were curious what we were up to! Curation are very special meals that bring together some of the best Portland Chefs with Festival Artists and Mixologists for an Event that fuses cuisine and music. They’re amazing experiences! Here’s the theme […]

A cold drink in a Pickathon stainless steel reusable pint cup on a hot day. This is the quintessential Pickathon experience, and this year we’re proud to bring a whole host of Beverage options to the festival. From national brands to indie brewers to craft cocktails to homebrewed coffee to crisp cider to powerful spirits […]

We’re so excited to announce that, in partnership with Toyota Racing Development, we’re bringing a HYDROGEN GENERATOR to Pickathon! This will be the first time a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Generator is used to power festival stages! Based on Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology developed for the Toyota Mirai road car, this one-of-a-kind generator will make its […]

The Windmill Neighborhood was brand new last year, tucked into the trees just above the Paddock Stage. It played host to literary readings, brewing meet-ups, intimate acoustic performances, surprisingly spirited rock-outs, and deeply shaded mid-day performances under the trees and amidst the pine needles. For the Windmill 2023, Jenn Lanius with EMA Architecture, soon to […]

Kids 12 and Under are FREE at Pickathon! With an attending adult of course, but this means you can bring the whole family. And did we mention that we have a FULL schedule of Family programming in the Coyote Neighborhood? Here’s that schedule, download it and get to planning! Here are graphics for each individual […]

The Woods Stage is perhaps the most iconic part of Pickathon! A forested bower tucked deep in the woods of Pendarvis Farm, every year we begin the process of weaving trees and branches together to make an incredible backdrop for this stage. We’re just starting out this year and can’t wait to show you what […]

If you’ve already purchased your pass to Pickathon, consider upgrading to the Pickathon Patron Pass! This pass to the festival provides unparalleled behind-the-scenes, full-on VIP access to Pickathon and helps keep the festival sustainable. It’s almost sold out, and so get it now if you’re interested! Did you know that Pickathon has an entire SECOND […]

For Pickathon, sustainability is one of our core values. We’ve pioneered so many different ways for a music festival to be environmentally sustainable, but we also want Pickathon to keep our lives sustainable as well! Pickathon’s Wellness programs are a key way to provide sustainability programs for the mental, physical, and spiritual health of everyone […]

Curated by Matt Wagner of Hellion Gallery, here’s a sneak peek at the design concept for the Galaxy Barn this year at Pickathon! Matt says, “Rockets, cowgirls, and cactus reign supreme this year. These elements will be used throughout the area to give that 50’s desert vibe with a look towards the future of space […]

Download the Pickathon Festival Map Today! This is your total guide to the festival. It shows each of the Neighborhoods, all of the stages, key details and info, and also the full world of Pickathon tent camping! We’ll have the map up on site but if you want it for your phone you can download […]

Neighborhoods Going Up Around the Farm! ONE DAY TO PICKATHON! Right now Pendarvis is buzzing with activity as all of our design teams are on site building out the Neighborhoods! TICKETS ARE SELLING OUT! RV and Car Camping just SOLD OUT! DO NOT DELAY! GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!! Welcome the Welcome Lot to Pickathon! After […]

The power of the spoken word is strong at Pickathon for Lit Sunday, August 6! From internationally acclaimed poets to powerful storytellers, to a popular podcast, to author readings, the Lit Sunday Lineup will delight your mind and expand your horizons. Here’s what we have in store for you! SPOKEN – 10 am to 11 […]

Designed by Holst Architecture and R&H Construction, with donated materials from Hampton Lumber, the Grove Neighborhood is going to be WILD this year! Here’s a sneak peek at the design specs for the space and the philosophy that Holst and R&H are bringing to this: ”In string theory, the basic building blocks of the universe […]

It’s a deep dive into the music industry this week on the Pickathon Podcast! Zale’s joined by special guest Yot Club, who will be at Pickathon this year. They both speak about the importance of going your own way in the music industry and how important it is to dodge the trappings of ego in […]

Each year at Pickathon, the grounds of Pendarvis Farm are seeded with fantastic forms. Neon-lit apparitions and hidden creatures stalk the night, and during the day festival goers are encouraged to interact with a host of art installations to delight the mind. Curated by Portland artist and lighting designer Jean Margaret Thomas, each year the […]

What a powerful podcast this week! Pickathon founder Zale Schoenborn sat down with Pickathon 2023 artist Brittany Davis to hear more about their inspiring and heartbreaking journey to the top of Seattle’s indie world. There’s a lot of affirmation here for the power of art to change lives, and that’s a great thing to remember […]

Volunteers Still Needed for Pickathon! If you want to make new friends, get a behind-the-scenes look at the festival, or just give back, sign up to volunteer this year at Pickathon! We’re sending out notifications now, but haven’t reached out to everyone who’s applied yet. But if you haven’t applied and would like to volunteer, […]

For Pickathon 2023, we’ll be introducing a brand-new Neighborhood: Farmhouse! The Farmhouse Neighborhood will be the front gate to Pickathon, so it will be the first place you see when you step foot on the farm. Big thanks to Hoffman Construction Company, Precision Construction, and Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences (CAIS) who are building out […]

Every year we scour the Portland area for the best up-and-coming chefs, restaurants, and food trucks, looking for amazing food to share with everyone at Pickathon! If you’ve ever stood in line for biscuits and coffee in the morning at Pickathon, kicked back with a full poke bowl while watching the Paddock stage, or tracked […]

Pickathon design teams are hard at work right now planning out each of our Neighborhoods. Today, we have a nice sneak peek at The Orchard Neighborhood. Orchard is a destination, thoroughfare, quiet retreat, or beacon of energy, depending on the time of day. As the first neighborhood you encounter, Orchard serves as a Gateway to […]

The Full Pickathon Schedule is Here! This schedule includes all the Music at Pickathon, but also the rest of our many lineups, including Wellness folks like Yoga Instructors and Workshops at the Refuge, Literary Folks like Poets, Storytellers, Authors, Comedians, and DJs. Download this to your phone and you’ll be able to plan out your […]

New Pickathon Podcast Up Now! This one gets pretty real folks, and includes some serious talk about the effect that COVID had on Pickathon, on independent bands, and on everyone. Great interview with Seattle band Small Paul too who developed out of post pandemic realities for some great NW bands like The Moondoggies. This podcast […]

We’ve been seriously revamping the Camping world of Pickathon, check that out on our PICKATHON INFO PAGE. Camping should be easier and more comfortable this year, but we also want to be sure to offer some fun options to go beyond the basic tent camping that’s included with every Weekend Pass at Pickathon. We’ve REALLY […]

Each year at Pickathon we invite students at Portland State University’s School of Architecture design program to create a venue made from reusable, sustainable materials. This used to be the Treeline Stage, so you’ll remember all the incredible designs they made over the years. Last year, we absorbed Treeline into the Cherry Hill Neighborhood and […]

We’re happy to announce the Curation Lineup for Pickathon 2023! These special meals are a separately ticketed experience that pairs some of the best chefs in Portland with festival artists, vinyl DJs, and mixologists.

Great Pickathon Podcast up now from our fearless leader Zale Schoenborn featuring him in conversation with Courtney Marie Andrews! Courtney returns to Pickathon this year as a true Northwest hero! With popular albums under her belt and a ravishing take on Indie Americana, she’s come far from the humble roots she talks about here, like […]

We’ve been thinking about that old hobo country song, “The Big Rock Candy Mountains” recently… It’s a classic vision of paradise, but from the viewpoint of the kind of free-wheelin’, free-lovin’ ramblers that come to Pickathon. It’s a land beyond authority and beyond rules, where you can just kick back and relax, enjoying the finest […]

We should have known that Lee Fields wouldn’t phone in his podcast! This week in the Pickathon Podcast is a pretty wild one, and legendary soul singer Lee treats us to some pretty amazing stories, ranging from Jimi Hendrix to James Brown with a big dash of astrophysics thrown in. You can audit Professor Fields’ […]

Wow, just got some pictures in of the new Pickathon Reusable Cups this year and they are GORGEOUS!! Even more beautiful than prior years drinkware, and big thanks to our new friends at Earthwell for creating and developing these premium laser engraved steel cups. Well, actually our old friends! Earthwell co-founder Scott Rolfson has been […]

Hot off the heels of their new album release and a feature in the New York Times, Zambian rock pioneers W.I.T.C.H. sat down with Pickathon founder Zale Schoenborn for an in-depth conversation of their long history. Zamrock master  Emmanuel “Jagari” Chanda talks about his crazy experiences in the music industry, but really the conversation is […]

Pickathon is for the kids! We have so much programming for families, in fact, that we’ve almost booked an entire kids-first festival inside the grounds of Pickathon!  Last year, our family-focused Coyote Neighborhood, in the woods above Cherry Hill, was a huge hit. Kids of all ages gathered for exclusive performances from our Family Music […]

New podcast out today and it’s a fun one! Pickathon Founder Zale Schoenborn interviews Portland’s own synth dream doom pop (new genre alert!) band Whimz and finds out the surprisingly strange and hilarious (and exclusive) story behind the name of their new album, PM226. Plus Zale talks a bit about the history of Pickathon’s work […]

We’ve been having so much fun with our weekly podcast that we wanted to invite folks to join us! If you’re a Pickathon Patreon member, you can actually jump on to the podcast with us tomorrow, June 1, in the afternoon, while we interview indie songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews and Zamrock pioneers W.I.T.C.H.! You get […]

We’ve been saying it and now it’s happening! Tier 1 Tickets have been selling great and their time is up! Tier 1 Tickets will be OVER Wed June 7 and we’ll be raising the prices on tickets, so if you’ve been holding off on buying tickets, now’s the time! We do everything we can to […]

There is still an opportunity to reserve one of the last remaining Camp Poler campsites for $800, and take home over $1180 in brand-new POLER and RUMPL gear, essentially making over $350 by letting us take care of you. Huh?! Did I read that right?! Its true! When you buy a Camp Poler glamping package, […]

We’re excited to announce a whole lineup of Craft Vendors at Pickathon! We’ve scoured the maker’s markets, craft fairs, and vendor venues of Portland and beyond to bring you some really great crafters for all your shopping desires at Pickathon this year! Here are some highlights! Desert Dreamin’ Vintage – For the honky-tonkers and desert […]

How is Pickathon the Anti-Festival? Founder Zale Schoenborn has some fascinating ideas in the new Pickathon Podcast about how Pickathon goes against the grain, bucking most major festival trends. It’s just common sense really, because Pickathon puts passion first over profit. Plus a great interview with outsider country artist The Kernal, a key artist on […]

Find out who’s playing what stage on which day, get the lowdown on Pickathon’s schedule this year, and lay out your plan for the festival. Will you wander like a nomad, or camp out at your favorite festival stage? Full Stage Schedules are UP and available now! We won’t have a printed program guide, so […]

The best part about Pickathon is discovering something new and special, and every year we’re coming up with awesome new experiences tucked into the woods at Pendarvis Farm! For a little while now we had been featuring some of the best DJs in the Northwest and beyond. These DJs are real-deal vinyl connoisseurs and every […]

This week on the Pickathon Podcast, it’s Zale vs Pachyman for a deep dive into Caribbean music, from Puerto Rico to Jamaica! Pachyman translates the curiosity and vintage production perspective of early dub pioneers to the modern era, reframing a Caribbean flow as transnational and eminently danceable. Opening up the episode, Zale’s got some pretty […]

Whether you want to come and go all weekend in your vehicle, tent camp in a lush forest, or chill out and sleep comfortably in your RV/Car, our Parking & Camping 2.0 Plan is a radically new way of experiencing Pickathon! What is Parking & Camping 2.0 ? Pickathon continuously works to improve the festival […]

Fridays and Saturdays Evenings at Pickathon’s Lucky Barn are for the laughs! Each year, we bring together some of the best rising comedians for a raucous night of stand-up comedy. It’s a Pickathon tradition that’s seen the rise of comics like Kyle Kinane, Ian Karmel, Amy Miller, and more! This year, Portland’s own Shain Brenden […]

It takes on army to put on Pickathon and we need your help! Volunteer Applications are Open Now for Pickathon 2023! Just go to volunteer.pickathon.com – fill out the form and let us know you’re interested in helping out. You can try out for one of the Crews that make Pickathon happen, like the Brew […]

In the third episode of the Pickathon Podcast, Zale tells a brief overview of the history of the Pickathon. Isabel Dammann, from Sprig of That, joins the conversation and shares stories about watching Lake Street Dive bring down the house at Pickathon 2014, her “Portland Famous” Dad, and why a violin, guitar, and Tabla drum […]

Here we go, the Daily Artist Lineups are now available for Pickathon 2023! This is your chance to peep which artists are playing which days at Pickathon. You can plan your schedule out to the tee (actual stage schedules coming a bit later). Tickets are on sale now, including day passes, so take a moment […]

In the second episode of the Pickathon podcast, Zale discusses how Pickathon became the first American music festival to eliminate all plastic and single-use dishware.  Nick Shoulders joins the conversation to talk about growing up in Arkansas, sustainability in music, fireworks naval battles, and how he learned to be the best yodeling country singer alive.  […]

The FIRST Episode of our new Pickathon Podcast is up now, check it out! Pickathon Founder Zale Schoenborn is heading these up, inviting in Pickathon 2023 Artists and Special Guests to chat about the festival and their own music and to go behind the scenes at Pickathon HQ in Portland.

One of the biggest music sites, Consequence of Sound, just profiled Pickathon and interviewed Pickathon Founder Zale Schoenborn on how to build an environmentally sustainable festival! Since Pickathon’s been a pioneer for years in greening music festivals, some of the brand-new ideas we developed in 2022 are getting national attention now. Folks are starting to […]

Pickathon and NPR Music are good buddies and have very sympatico tastes in music! Take a tour of our Pickathon 2023 lineup through NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concerts! Lee Fields NPR Tiny Desk – this legend of soul ran through three songs from his most recent album “Sentimental Fool” plus an older one from a […]

The 2023 Pickathon Lineup is out now! We’ve pulled back the curtain on one of our most discovery-based lineups ever. And we want you to dive in with us and explore. Pickathon’s where we go to fall in love, all over again, every year. It’s where we go to find our next favorite bands and to say that we saw […]

Pickathon is famous for curating breakout bands across all genres! It’s an engine of discovery that introduces us to bands before they win Grammys, headline national festivals, or earn a place in your best artist list. Pickathon is unlike any other festival you’ve been to and no matter what anyone tries to tell you, you […]

Pickathon’s all about discovery, and even though we can’t wait for you to discover our 2023 Lineup (coming later next week!!), we thought we’d give folks a chance to try their hand at guessing who’ll be playing the festival this year! Announcing the first-ever PICKATHON LINEUP BINGO! Guesses have been bouncing all around social media and especially […]

PICKATHON TICKETS ON SALE NOW Pickathon’s Videos Are Starting Up Again!Awesome Performances from 2022 Festival Debuting Now Yay, today we’re so excited to debut new videos from Pickathon 2022! Expect a couple videos a week from us from now on, and most of your favorite video series will return, including the Pumphouse and Slab Sessions! If you know Pickathon, you […]

What makes Pickathon special? We asked fans…