Sasquatch! Music Festival won't be returning in 2019

GEORGE — It appears that last month’s Sasquatch! Music Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre will be the last, as the festival’s creator has announced the event won’t be returning in 2019.

Adam Zacks made the announcement on Thursday that the Memorial Day weekend staple will be coming to an end after 17 years.

“The Festival began 17 years ago on a hunch, greenlit on nothing more than a name and instinct there was space for something with a uniquely northwest flavor, on Memorial Day weekend, at one of the most beautiful locations on earth – the Gorge. Seventeen years is a long time to do anything,” Zacks said in a press release.

Sasquatch! began back in 2002 and over the years brought artists from music genres ranging from hip-hop, to dance, rock and indie back to the Gorge. Last month’s festival featured the likes of Bon Iver, Modest Mouse, Tyler the Creator and The National.

“The Beatles lasted a mere 8 years, a fact so astonishing it is difficult to believe. While we didn’t accomplish anything as indelible as ‘Hey Jude’, the Festival left a lasting mark and proudly represented an independent spirit,” Zacks said.

Zacks did not indicate if there is an outside possibility of Sasquatch! returning in the future. Sasquatch! is one of a few music festivals that annually come to the Gorge, the others being the Paradiso Festival, which showcases electronic dance music (EDM) artists, and the Watershed Festival, which features county music artists.

“Sasquatch! will forever remain a tapestry of the people who worked with us. The artists who inspired us, and the varied experiences of the fans who attended it, of friendships made, engagements, hilltop weddings, permanent tattoos, once in a lifetime collaborations, weather events both treacherous and magnificent, at least one very public conception, and, of course, hundreds of awe-inspiring performances.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.