Pendarvis Farm

Celebrated a 50th birthday party here 2 weeks ago. Such a cute place. You can tell they've worked hard to make this beautiful place special for everyone. There's little touches everywhere. I enjoyed the ispy game all day. The building we rented was open and inviting with different seating clusters so I as a stranger to most of the guests could easily conversate with different groups. Again the fun decor added to the event. The stage was perfect for the musicians. Bar and provided tables made for convenient service to the guests. And outside kitchen great for set up. The owners were delightful, helpful and kind. Will definitely rent the facility for our next party or wedding

Pickathon remains one of my most favorite experiences. We just need to get the paths watered down periodically. I'm still sneezing twigs.

Pickathon is a huge rip off, don’t waste your money here- just support the artists you love directly. It’s not accessible and not trying remotely to be accessible- physically and financially. This is the first time I signed up for an expensive music festival thinking that would mean my experience as an attendee mattered to the people hosting, this was definitely not the case. They only want your money. There is terrible signage getting there, when you arrive, and within the festival. There were no instructions ahead of time on their website about what check in/ parking/ the food situation all look like. All of the artists I came to see didn’t play until 10pm,11pm and 1am on a Sunday night also not accessible for working folks. If I’d known they were playing that late, I wouldn’t have dropped what I did on a day pass. Then there is the food situation, you don’t only have to pay for marked up food and drink but also BUY THE EXPENSIVE CUPS AND BOWLS THEY COME IN WITHOUT ANY WARNING. Also the installations and decorations were all made of “recycled materials” aka repurposed trash and scrap wood. They also encouraged attendees to bike there but drink heavily and stay until 2am to see their favorite band and bike home safely then? Also I wasn’t super impressed with the lineup, there was some really not great music happening and while I’m all about supporting smaller artists and sustainability, I am not into this version of that.

This is the BEST venue in the Portland area. The festival was present before the housing construction boom and has always been amazing. The talent is always fantastic, the sound is perfect, and the food is exquisite. I am a local (live in Happy Valley) and appreciate that Pendarvis farm chooses to host this festival each year.

Magical spot for a festival! Came to see Tyler Childers.

Wonderful experience with great artists and food. The entire event is wholesome and relaxing. Definately a yearly destination.

There are houses across the street! Not a good place to hold concert. I live about one mile away from the farm. I hear the music as if they are playing in my backyard. They play loud music till 2 a.m.!!! Can't sleep!

Pickathon is an amazing festival with a perfect setting!

I attended Pickathon as a volunteer this year. I've never been before and it was evident that the festival tried to go too big this year. I heard remarks from other guests that this year felt different, but not in a good way. Not enough parking, not enough showers, not enough camping spaces set up. Pretty close quarters in the audiences at the different stages. The art installations were stunning, the musicians inspiring, the food delicious. Sell less tickets. Stay sustainable. Don't be greedy, Pickathon.

Pickaton 2023 Trip Day 1 Thursday August 3rd Music was good. An eclectic mix that I was pleasantly surprised by. I didn't know any of the artist but they all were fun to listen to. Really enjoyed the high energy of Po Ramblin Boys. Jackie Venson was a joy to see. And Yot Club was an unexpectedly talented and fun artist. I was super excited to see the decor and art at Pickaton from the hype on Instagram but coming from a similar size festival Northern Nights Music Festival, Pickaton decor was pretty disappointing. The NNMF Grove stage was beautiful with relatively simple design and artistic flare. The Pickaton Grove Stage, there's some ropes suspension, but it didn't seem like there was enough substance to really transform the space. Some of it like the Windmill stage looks like they just used random shit they found. Maybe it's a recycle theme? Cherry stage wood backgroud was probably my favorite so far. IDK it did not live up to the hype. Had a horrible experience with a "staff" camp that was super hostile. They lied about their staff campsite because other staff camps were clearly marked and this one wasn't. And on duty staffer confirmed that if unmarked, all sites were free for all. They went through my stuff when I was gone, and posted a bogus tent violation tag that was dated in July. It's August 3rd right now. They complained about my privacy tent that I had a camp toilet. Say it was prohibited, but it's not listed on the Pickaton website. They did have a canopy, which actually is listed as prohibited. They even got the "founder of pickaton" on the phone to tell me off. I was a solo female surrounded by at least 5 men. If this is Pickaton staff and policy, they are pretty terrible, and it is unacceptable to intimidate, harass, and bully an Asian 5'3, 110lb woman. I imagine if I was white, they probably wouldn't have as much hate. I cried alot from frustration and general sadness about the lack of kindness at Pickaton . They eventually said I could stay at the site. But I moved as I did not feel safe there with people who are disgusting with their lies and going through my things. Totally ruined the rest of my day and night. Ruin my idea of Pickaton being an inclusive environment for music lovers. Honestly if I didnt spend over $700 for the 4 day pass and curation dinner I would have left. Be warned this organization does not actually care about the people and experience as clearly represented by its staff. Don't waste your money. There's also a very large gap in diversity. Which may be reflective of the culture of Pickaton. Nearly all of the staff and attendees were white. Overall, there was a lot of disorganization. I arrived early and got to see things unravel. Staff started checking people in without being trained on how to do it. Staff confusion on the gear drop even existing and then where or when it would actually start. I had to move all my things myself since things weren't actually running as advertised. Sadly, the few hours of music I saw were fun, but the horrible camping experience completely destroyed any positive experience. It does appear that these horrible camp bullies are staff, which only mares Pickaton further. Super sad and disappointing experience thus far. Aside from the camping experience, the festival operations were amature and disorganized.. First time and last time at Pickaton, but it almost felt like this was their first rodeo too. I had a lot of high hopes for Pickaton and was horribly disturbed, disgusted, and deeply sadden about my experience. Update: today is Saturday August 5th and the site that I was forced out of is sitting there empty. Canopy in the staff camp is still up. And no response from Pickathon about the camping incident.

Pickathon used to be such a fun, folky, community feeling open air delight of an event, by the people, for the people; a little in the rough, breathing room, all of which are what made it so great. As with most things Portland, it has now fully priced and regimented itself out of this category of event, where now a family with two teens would have to spend upwards of $1000 to park, camp eat and be and nickel and dimed for things like a recyclable plates, while experiencing long lines and struggling to find a place to pitch a tent. Between the crowds, the prices, the classist tiers of admission categories, the inconvenience and the uppityness, the event has lost it's local soul and just become another elitist festival, for those who can afford it. Another one for the Lost Portland list.

I've always been fascinating by festivals and I adore the community that blossoms at them. At one point I contemplated changing my name to DJ Festigirl and dedicating all of my free time to becoming the best old school 60's and 70's record spinning DJ Redhead around.That dream was short-lived, but I still continue to follow the always beckoning Festigirl spirit - to what always proves to be an unforgettable adventure. My Festigirl alter-ego led me to Pendarvis Farm for Pickathon recently and I was beyond impressed at the capabilities of Pendarvis Farm as a remarkable and beautiful venue space. With two rustic barns equipped with impressive sound systems, to the intimate darling Wood Stage - born from knotted branches, to the vast expansive Meadow Stage, to the magical lush hills - where everyone camped - Pendarvis Farm was unbelievable. Pendarvis is wonderland for nature lovers and music lovers. If you ever have the opportunity to attend or host an event here - do it. Don't even think about it. It's evident by the energy that cruises around Pendarvis that is managed and owned by good people. That same lovely energy can't help but seep into any event that is hosted here. Trust.

First time to Pickathon festival and I was impressed. Been to other fests like Sasquatch, Life is Beautiful, etc and this one has a more mature and responsible less commercialized feel to it. I even got to bring my 3 year old son! Lots of activities for the kiddies and good diverse food vendors like Schwarma! Very clean fest that uses reusable dishes and utensils. Heavy on the Alt-country, folk, roots, world style music.

I was looking for things to do with my 4 year old daughter today. Pickathon was advertised, lots of hype about the kids' area and stages, so we decided to go. I looked at the tickets page and it listed ticket prices as "$25 - $600." Since we were going for just a couple of hours I thought the price was likely $25. We loaded up and drove out and found our way to the ticket booth. Here is what the ticket seller said, with a big smile, "Kids get in free." Me: Great! "So, let's see then for one adult and of course your parking pass that will be $125." I explained we were just going to the kids area for a couple of hours, fully expecting her to say --- "Oh, well, then you need a half day pass for $25." But, nope. $125. I said -- that's crazy. We're not doing this, to which my daughter burst into tears. We walked off. In the car, I thought, well we're already here and I did promise it -- so let's go. Back to the same ticket seller, forked over this enormous amount and in when went. Of course, my daughter was hungry and we'd promised ice cream. We found the food area (at this point we'd walked probably half a mile from the parking lot to the food area) and my daughter was hungry and tired. We waited in line again, another fifteen minutes, and had to buy a whole pizza because of course they don't sell them by the slice. But in order to get a plate we had to walk another good stint to the place where they have the plates. Stood in line again and came to understand that in order to get a plate, we had to fork over another $10. Then once we were done with the plate, walk all the way back over there, stand in line again to return the plate and get our ten dollars back. I forewent the plate and we got our pizza on a piece of paper, we folded it up like a taco and carried it to the only open table. The tables were surrounded by speakers and TVs blasting, and I mean blasting, some kind of screeching "music." My daughter plugged her ears with one hand and ate her pizza with the other. At every point, to and fro, our disney princess backpack was searched for beer. God forbid, you didn't BUY beer. Since there was almost NO INFORMATION on the "Kid's calendar" we went to the kids area and got so incredibly lucky that Red Yarn was playing. That was really fun. We've seen him ten thousand times for about $10 bucks usually, but still, great to do something that was actually fun. My daughter proceeded to play on the play structure for an hour. I decided we should go where the main stage area was just to see it and maybe there would be other kids stuff there. More waiting in line and bag searching. Not a thing for a kid to do and not one square inch to sit. We made our way to the other side of the stage and saw some horses behind a wooden fence. Awesome! We approached, and were about 4 feet from the fence when we were asked to see our wristbands. We displayed them, and were told that we didn't have the right kind of wrist band to go into this part of the festival. My daughter clearly just wanted to get to the fence to see the horses, but we were told "I'm sorry, you can't be here." M'kay. We got in the car and headed home. And that was Pickathon 2016.