Pickathon Festival Postpones To 2021 Due To Coronavirus

Organizers announced the postponement of the 2020 Pickathon music festival due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The event scheduled for July 30 – August 2 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon will now take place in 2021.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently called for the postponement of all large gatherings in the state through September. Pickathon announced the initial 2020 lineup in April that included Garcia Peoples, Joan Shelley, Mary Lattimore, Chad VanGaalen, (Sandy) Alex G and others.

Tickets to Pickathon 2020 will be honored at either the 2021 or 2022 festival. Read the note from Pickathon organizers below:

Dear Pickathon Community,

We hoped and fought to keep going, but it’s clear now that we must postpone the 2020 Pickathon festival until 2021. These are absolutely unprecedented times, and there is no way for us to come together safely this August. The health and safety of our Pickathon community will always come first and we stand with Governor Kate Brown in her directive to postpone large gatherings through September.

Pickathon is a fragile dream; a small, independent, community-driven festival with ambitions far beyond our means. The impact of COVID-19 on Pickathon is devastating. We hope to emerge with something even more lasting and meaningful, but we’ll have to work together to keep this dream alive.

Pickathon is completely independent, not only in our curation of artists but also financially. The tickets sold to date do not cover the costs already incurred in our year-round planning. At the end of each of our 21 years of operation we typically break even; we have no safety net. We are not giving up. Instead, we will harness all of our creative potential to find solutions for the festival going forward.

We are so appreciative of everyone who bought tickets to Pickathon 2020. While we cannot issue refunds, any tickets already purchased will be exchangeable for tickets to future Pickathons. If you find yourself in a situation of extreme hardship that is an imminent threat to your financial security, we will do what we can in our extremely limited ability to help. In that case, please complete our emergency refund request form – https://pickathon.com/2020/emergencyrefund.

In a best faith effort to enable Pickathon to reemerge and thrive for many years to come, we came up with two options for your purchased 2020 tickets.

• Gift your 2020 ticket •

We live through, and for, your generosity. If you can, please choose this option as your gift will become a crucial part of the story of how we made it through this difficult time and continued to imagine new ways to bring Pickathon to you and your families. (https://pickathon.com/2020/giftmyticket)

• Transfer your 2020 ticket to Pickathon 2021 or 2022 •

We appreciate your willingness to be flexible and help make the reemergence of Pickathon possible. (https://pickathon.com/2020/transfermyticket)

Your response with your desired option must be received by JUNE 10, 2020.

Even as we contemplate how Pickathon can reemerge stronger, we also want to remind everyone who can to continue supporting the overwhelming present need of musicians through our A Concert A Day benefit for MusiCares. The impact on artists’ livelihood from COVID-19 is monumental.

We all shared tears watching our livestream Friday of Nathaniel Rateliff’s heartbreaking performance at Pickathon last year. “Rush on, rush on / If I find you, I will wake you / Rush on, rush on,” he sang. We’re determined to rush on, to move forward, to fight for this shared dream of ours, to keep Pickathon living in our hearts and to find new ways to bring the magic of Pickathon to you.

Sincerely,

Pickathon