Sasquatch, the annual music festival held Memorial Day weekend at the the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, will not take place in 2019, and the festival’s future beyond that is very much up in the air, as founder and producer, Adam Zacks, is stepping down.
“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,” Zacks wrote in a statement. “May the spirit that made Sasquatch! so special live on.”
The festival was founded in 2002 as a single-day event headlined by The String Cheese Incident, Jack Johnson, and Ben Harper. It expanded to three days in 2006, added a fourth in 2011, and ran for three again in 2014, 2017, and 2018. In 2014, the festival attempted to add a second weekend over July 4th, but low ticket sales led to those plans being canceled. Over the course of its existence, it sold 1,026,095 tickets, donated $723,436 to nonprofits, and booked 1,313 bands. Neko Case played more than anyone else, having appeared on seven lineups and playing eight shows between The New Pornographers and solo performances (she did both in 2008).
This year’s Sasquatch! lineup featured Bon Iver, David Byrne, Anderson .Paak, Explosions in the Sky, The National, Modest Mouse, Tyler, the Creator, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, Julien Baker, and more. You can take a look back at what could turn out to be the festival’s final year with our photo gallery, and read Zacks’ full statement below.
Today we take a bow and bid a fond farewell to Sasquatch! I will no longer be producing the Festival, nor will it take place in 2019.
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.
17 years is a long time to do anything. 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.
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. My humblest gratitude to all of you.
May the spirit that made Sasquatch! so special live on.
Onward to the next adventure,
Adam Zacks
In an email to Consequence of Sound, Zacks declined to elaborate on the status of the festival going forward. “We’re going to let my letter speak for itself for the time being and leave it at that,” he wrote.
