It feels like just yesterday Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation and Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek were transforming the Woods Stage into a forested cathedral out at Pendarvis Farm in 2025. Alas, we are, in fact, at almost exactly the furthest—when thinking in terms of linear time—point away from Pickathon we can possibly be. From July 30 to August 2, 2026, Pickathon will be celebrating its 26th year of turning the lush hills around Happy Valley into one of the most diverse music destinations in the Pacific Northwest.
But fret not, fellow Pump House partiers, Pickathon just dropped their 2026 music lineup and it’s a goodie! In what I’m coming to understand as their high-bar-setting curation of dazzling music from around the world, the festival continues their groove and dance-heavy tradition in 2026.
At first glance, the Pickathon 2026 lineup crown jewels include original bossa nova baddie Marcos Valle, Portland’s Afrofuturists The Cosmic Tones Research Trio, Australia’s serene Folk Bitch Trio, famous daughters The Womack Sisters, Sabbathian worshipers Acid King, the PDX post-punks Buddy Wynkoop, and the electronic psych-cumbia of Terror/Cactus.
If you’re a bit turned off knowing only a small handful of the almost 50 band initial lineup, you’re not alone. Friends of mine had been trying to get me out to Pickathon for 13 years by the time I made the Pendarvis pilgrimage in 2025, the shortcomings in my own music knowledge informing my decision to continually miss the festival I now plan on attending into perpetuity. Don't let the unknown frighten you!
That’s the beauty of Pickathon, you’re bound to discover several new lifetime favorites every year. Maybe it’ll be Jimetta Rose or Derya Yıldırım, or maybe it’ll be Geese who played the festival in 2024 and were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live last week. You truly never know what you’re going to discover at Pickathon. It’s an “I saw them at” festival of the highest order. If you see a band you’re even remotely into on the Woods Stage or in the Barn, you’re gonna fall in love, guaranteed.
On first listen, beyond what I was already familiar with, there is, of course, heaps of good music coming to the farm this summer. LA-based bands The Altons and Thee Sinseers are playing together, slow-groovin’ with their updated doo-wop sounds; the outsider cumbia of the Bogotá-based Meridian Brothers; experimental noodling à la Mary Halvorson, Black girl magic hip-hopper who knows she’s the shit Sa-Roc; Jamaica born, Seattle-based original reggae head Clinton Fearon; Mexico City’s beatmaker supreme Mexican Institute of Sound; Friendship sounding deeply like Jason Molina; the Yemenese psych of El Khat (probably the most exciting artist I was unfamiliar with on the lineup); Dylan Earl’s politically sound outlaw country; and the PJ Harvey-esque intensity rollercoaster that is Prewn.
We’re well covered with the initial 2026 announcement, but if I may, it would be so incredibly excellent to get a bit more hip-hop and punk/hardcore music over the weekend. Portland do be going off with artists like Karma Rivera, Tasa D, Keeks, and Omari Jazz holding it down in the hip-hop realm. Nonbinary Girlfriend, Boltcutter, Gossip, and Bijoux Cone would all crush their punk sets at Pickathon. Gouge Away in the Barn? Satan’s Pilgrims on Cherry Hill? TOODY COLE OR URAL THOMAS ON THE WOODS STAGE!? But I digress, Pickathon’s 2026 lineup is exceptionally expansive as is—but you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take…
And y’all, this is just an announcement feature. There will be more Pickathon coverage as we approach the festivities. Look forward to Mercury writer Holly Hazelwood and I pulling together our must-sees of the festival, as well as Hazelwood’s annual “Pickathon How-To” feature. And still to be announced? The DJ, food, literary, comedy, wellness, art, and kids programming are all still TBA. Stay tuned!
Pickathon takes place July 30 to August 2 at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon. More info and tickets here.
