Pickathon, without question one of the best music festivals in the U.S., has announced the full lineup for its 2023 edition. And from the looks of it, the three-day event, which began as a radio station fundraiser back in 1999 and has since evolved into an annual, family-friendly destination for music heads of all stripes, is returning to its core principles of discovery. Rather than pulling in big font headliners like Phil Lesh, Beach House and Nickel Creek, as they have in recent years, the organizers have packed the lineup with an impressively diverse collection of artists that will send attendees home with a list of new favorites.
There are plenty of recognizable names on the docket, of course, like throwback soul artist Lee Fields; Watchhouse, the folk duo formerly known as Mandolin Orange; indie rockers Dehd and Wednesday and neo-folksters Madison Cunningham and Courtney Marie Andrews. But the rest of the field is full of wonderful surprises with representatives of the global music community from Africa (W.I.T.C.H., Imarhan, Vieux Farka Toure) and Central and South America (Sgt. Papers, Novalima, Meridian Brothers), hip-hop (They Hate Change, TOBi) and nice picks from the festival’s local scene in Portland, OR (The Shivas, Møtrik).
There’s a lot to dig into with this year’s Pickathon, so take a look at the full lineup below and, if you’re so moved, start making your travel plans to visit Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, OR from August 3 – 6.
PICKATHON 2023 LINEUP:
Watchhouse
Lee Fields
Dehd
Madison Cunningham
Vieux Farka Touré
Florist
W.I.T.C.H.
