Top 11 Northwest Folk Festivals 2025 (Spring and Summer in the Northwestern US)

The trees are budding, the bees are buzzing, and it seems there’s an irresistible pull to get outside. There’s no mistaking when festival season arrives.  For those who like to enjoy their folk music culture outdoors, we’ve taken the time to seek out some of the best Northwest folk festivals 2025 occurring this Spring and Summer to help you avoid missing any of the fantastic acoustic music events coming up soon. Join us as we share our picks of the top 11 folk festivals in the northwestern US for the 2025 season.

Northwest Folklife Festival

The Northwest Folklife Festival has announced its cultural focus for 2025: IKIGAI!  From the Japanese ‘iki’ (life) and ‘gai’ (worth living), it symbolizes the event’s spirit of embracing change and finding your true purpose.  In that spirit, they bring visitors music ranging from traditional folk to more contemporary fare, a diverse array of cultural dances and food choices that suit tastes from food trucks to dining on local cuisine.  If that doesn’t sound like a life worth living, I don’t know what does!

Since 1972, this folk festival has brought music, dance, crafts, and so much more, and all have been funded purely through donations.  But just because it’s free doesn’t mean you won’t get quality entertainment!  At last season’s show, you could watch folk/Celtic/blues acts on the Fisher Green stage and then go watch Cowboy Andy and the Salamanders with the kids.  There’s literally something for everyone!  If you want to take a little “quiet time,” you can choose between visual arts, poetry readings, or craftsman workshops.  For those workshops, you should visit the “Maker Space”, where you’ll find artisans plying trades such as glass blowing, book binding, and luthiery.  You can’t beat free, and if they’ve been able to operate totally off of donations, they must be doing something right.

The National Oldtime Fiddler’s Contest and Festival

The next event coming up on our list of Northwest folk festivals 2025 is a fiddler’s dream with a 70+ year legacy of bringing you some of the best upcoming talents!  Any Mark O’Connor fans out there might remember that he was a 4-time champ who went on to be a celebrated artist and earned himself 3 Grammy awards.  The competition is always fierce, and their history shows that any contestant you see today could be tomorrow’s superstar!  With 3 campgrounds and a selection of both food and craft vendors, this is a perfect late Spring destination!

While the contest is the centerpiece of the festival, don’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of the numerous other folk offerings.  The festival offers a wide array of workshops on folklife topics such as soap making, pottery throwing, and yarn spinning.  If you’re in the mood to sit back and take it all in, you could check out the free entertainment stage, where you might see some local talent or someone from the broader music industry.  And while you’re there, don’t forget to join in the Saturday Parade!  Grab your rosin and head to Weiser!

Ten Mile Creek Revival

The Ten Mile Creek Revival is the spiritual successor to the Kate Wolf Music Festival, which had its last hurrah in 2022.  As such, they bring a tradition that spans more than 30 years, and they’re carrying the torch!  This one comes on strong with the music, showcasing popular acts like Los Lobos and the Wailin’ Jennys.  And if you have a taste for something slightly more exotic, you might want to take in the Sound Immersion with Danny Goldberg or Wake the Dead, who express themselves as ‘the world’s only Celtic all-star Grateful Dead jam band’.  Whatever your tastes, you’ll find what you seek here!

Are you a camper?  The Revival has you covered!  From camping to glamping to RV slips, whatever style of ‘roughing it’ that visitors prefer can be found here.  And what about the little campers?  Kidz-Landia!  A dedicated area just for kids, they have everything that will keep your little ones smiling!  They can go straight from getting their faces painted to watching Earthcapades, all in an area dedicated to them.  Just off the Music Meadow, you can find the Front Porch stage where it seems just about anything can happen, from getting a massage to networking with non-profits.  And don’t forget to check out the creek itself!  A fine spot for visitors to experience the wonders of the local biome, complete with 2 families of beaver.  Mark your calendar!

Oregon Country Fair

Let’s kick off July with the Oregon Country Fair!  This year, they’re bringing you a folk music offering that spans from musical acts to vaudeville and beyond!  It’s easy to see why they draw in approximately 45,000 festival goers annually.  What started as a benefit concert in 1969 has since become a folk festival that can hold its ground with any other.  You can start off at The Front Porch with Jaya Lakshmi and Friends and end it with The Sugar Beets on the Kesey Stage with no worries about a lack of variety!

The fair does not have a campground of its own, but they do give a pretty good list of campgrounds they describe as ‘neighborhood’ campgrounds.   One unique feature their website has is an ‘artisan’ tab in their dropdown menu that takes you to a list of the types of craftpersons that will be there (a considerable list), which can be selected for the full list of individual artisans (almost overwhelming).  Need a massage?  You can research them ahead of time.  Need a new belt?  Plenty of leatherworkers to choose from.  Need some help deciding on whether to buy that belt?  Pick a tarot reader or a psychic.  I predict that you’ll have a great time at the Oregon Country Fair, one of our favorites among the best Northwest folk festivals 2025!

Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival

The Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival is now entering its 38th year, and they’re still going strong with a festival that showcases talent from across numerous musical communities that are all guaranteed to keep your toes tappin’!  Have a taste for the pedal steel guitar?   Try Robert Randolph, whose style is said to be ‘genre fusing’ and has played across the world with such talents as Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.  Angelique Francis, an upright bassist whose style is said to be a blend of folk, blues, soul, jazz, roots, rock, gospel and Americana (a mouthful!), and The Angelique Francis band will serve you something uptempo to get you moving with the next course being slow, dirty, ‘you done me wrong’ blues.  The website also has embedded videos so that you can check out the talent ahead of time.

They do offer on-site camping in dry sites with portable toilets and showers provided.  They also provide spots for ‘big rig’ camping, but the spots are limited, so book yours today! 

Red Ants Pants Music Festival

Our next July event, the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, kicks off with their free Street Dance on Main Street (with headliner Kalyn Beasley) and doesn’t slow down.  On the main stage you can catch acts like Steve Earle (Copperhead Road) and Reckless Kelly and then sit in for St. Paul and the Broken Bones or you can roll the dice on some newer talent on the side stage.  Either way, you’re sure to be entertained!  

The festival also has a robust card of children’s activities.  Multiple organizations come together to present various workshops to include leather stamping and making ‘fun sized’ instruments of their own!  This year, they will be bringing back the KGLT Kids Songwriting Workshop, which brings together kids and musicians to help them better understand songwriting, performance, and how it all fits together.  Then they will have a chance to perform their new song alongside accompaniment on stage!  There IS camping, but there are NO HOOKUPS for RVs, though they are welcome.  While you’re there, treat yourself to the Beard and Moustache Competition!

Oyster Ridge Music Festival

FossilBasin.org describes the Oyster Ridge Music Festival as ‘one of the best folk music festivals in the US, and just maybe, one of the best festivals in the US’.  With past acts like The White Buffalo and Red Wanting Blue, plus the upcoming lineup including Fiddle Express and The Tonewood String Band, it might just live up to that.  With over 30 years of bringing you one fantastic folklife festival after another, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be glad you went!

Food can range from Navajo tacos to corn dogs, and the event prides itself on its assortment of microbrew beer trailers.  One of the events unique to this folk festival is the Band Scramble.  The game is that musicians get chosen to join random groups of other musicians and present a performance from their new ‘band.’  The performances are judged by the audience as to who the best performers are.  It’s always a hit, so when you go, you don’t want to miss this featured event!

Pickathon

Straddling the line between July and August, we have Pickathon!  Voted ‘Best Indie Festival’, Pickathon is held on Pendarvis Farm, which boasts 2 stages and 2 rustic barns outfitted with sound systems to guarantee you’ll have something to keep your interest at all times.  The folklife festival flavor is well represented here with groups like East Nash Grass (bluegrass out of Nashville) and Jenny Don’t and The Spurs (country western out of Portland).  If you’re looking to change it up you can check out the rock sounds of Portugal. The Man or the gospel funk sounds of Sugarlegg.

Campers rejoice!  Free camping spaces are offered with a small number of ‘glamping’ packages to be purchased, which include a pre-set up campsite with tent, pillows, chairs, etc that you can take home with you after the event!  If that isn’t quite comfy enough for you, there are also RV and car camping options available.  Vendors can be found selling handcrafted treasures and artisanal snacks with everything in between, from the large number of artisans and craftsmen who make their way here every year.  In short.. Pendarvis Farm is where you want to be for the end of July!

Rocky Mountain Folks Festival

For over 30 years, the self-described ‘Summit of the Song’ has been a go-to for some of the finest folk festival fare for those with a taste for it.  Jackson Browne once described it as what he had envisioned festivals to be, and the acts coming this year measure up to that lofty standard.  You can spend Friday watching Bandits on the Run (indie-folk-pop-Americana), catch the ‘world roots’ performance of Alysha Brilla on Saturday and finish it all up with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band who will be finishing up their farewell tour and promoting their new tribute album “Dirt Does Dylan’ where they express their admiration with such songs as ‘The Times They are A-Changin’ and ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’.  Don’t miss your last chance to see ‘em!

The festival boasts 2 stages, a main stage and the more intimate ‘Wildflower Pavilion’ where they have smaller performances and workshops.  Camping on-site is available as well as at the nearby Laverne Johnson Park.  If those are full (and they fill up fast, so get your tickets today!), the website also lists some of the other local lodging for you to try.  And you can’t miss the 2025 songwriter showcase, which brings artists across all communities, is only open to unsigned talent, and the winner gets a spot in the festival lineup next year!  So head up there and meet your new favorite artist!  

Tumbleweed Music Festival

If you happen to be in Seattle this Labor Day, be sure to get your tickets for the Tumbleweed Music Festival!  They’re celebrating their 29th year, and once it gets rolling on Friday, it’s full speed ahead until the last contra dance!  The Tumbleweed Festival is unique because all of the folk festival performers are donating their time, which helps the festival remain free to all. 

The Friday night show brings you ‘alternative folk’, which they describe as ‘higher energy’ than the more traditional folk event to come.  On Saturday, you can get tickets to the Tumbleweed Benefit Concert, and Sunday winds down with the contra dance, an Appalachian folk dance with influences from all over the world.  Add to that the fact that there are 6 stages and 2 workshop rooms that change talent every 45 minutes!  The exception is the open mic stage, which starts at 2 PM and changes depending on the artists.

This folk festival does not offer any type of on-site lodging.  However, they do have a ‘Homestay’ program for the adventurous.  The premise is that they have households that offer to let visitors or performers stay with them for free.  And don’t miss seeing the finalists for the Jane Titland Memorial Songwriting Contest perform their songs live on Saturday!

Sisters Folk Festival

For 27 years, the Sisters Folk Festival has said ‘all the world’s a stage’ and they live that credo by hosting a sprawling event that covers 7 stages at 7 DIFFERENT locations throughout Sisters, OR.  You might find yourself watching performers in a tent or a historic church, and they say you can expect a ‘unique and transformative festival experience’ so get ready for that!  Sure, you may be coming to see Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band or The Faux Paws (love that name), but what if you could get an opportunity to talk shop with them?  Some acts will arrive early to run workshops in support of the Americana Song Academy leading up to the event, and you can sign up  If you’re a budding songwriter or know one, this could be your opportunity.  Get your applications in as soon as possible because time is running out to get booked, as this famous festival ranks high among Northwest folk festivals 2025.

It’s hard to say you have on-site camping when a festival is as dispersed as this, but they do offer dedicated campgrounds at Sisters High School and Shepherd of the Hills.  Of course, with the whole town as a festival, you might as well stay at one of the hotels that they have links for on their website.  And if you do prefer the more pampered hotel experience, you should make sure to get your accommodations before they’re gone.

What a season!

Once things get going, they get hot quick!   Mark your calendars for this epic array of Northwest folk festivals 2025 and plan to attend. Remember that when you support these arts communities, you’re not just getting a festival or folk festival, you’re getting the opportunity to seek more.  The opportunity to understand more.   The opportunity to support more.  You have the opportunity to bring more culture to more communities and have a good time doing it.  Go support the arts!