Welcome

2020 Winlock Pickersfest
July 31st - August 2nd, 2020

Don't Miss it!

If you attended Pickersfest '19, you already know what an awesome festival it was. If you missed it, please accept our heartfelt sympathy. But all is not lost! We are already hard at work planning for next year's music festival and believe it or not, we are on the fast track of making the next festival even better! Keep watching this page as we update our activities and lineup. Mark your calendars now for July 31st through August 2nd, 2020.

Note: The park only has a few picnic tables near the stage. We suggest you bring your own comfortable lawn chair for your best seating.

Got Questions?

If you have any questions regarding our festival activities or festival on-site camping, please go to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page under the INFO tab of our website. Hopefully, any questions you have will be answered there. If you still have unanswered questions, please use our "Contact Us" form to ask your question.

Click here to Submit your Band for our 2021 Pickersfest

 

Winlock Pickersfest includes instructional workshops, genre jams, open mics, plenty of pickin' and grinnin', and organized kids activities! Check out the rest of the site to see details about the live bands, the workshop schedule, camping details, ticket info, links, and more.

Our 2019 Winlock Pickersfest had three New Genre Jams.

All three genre jams were extremely popular and very well attended, with some people coming to the festival just to play in the jams. These are the jams we had in 2019:

• Celtic Music Jam

  Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music. The styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.

• Old-Time Music Jam

  An old-time jam is, naturally, a place where folks get together to play old-time music. "Fiddle tunes" form the bulk of the old time jam repertoire, but other songs may be played as well. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential tunes in the Old Time repertoire. This varies to some extent by region, but there are several dozen "standards" which will be known anywhere. Banjos, fiddles, and guitars comprise the primary instruments, but don't be surprised to find someone playing the bass, washboard, spoon, bones, jug, etc. You're bound to find people of all ages, walks of life, and ability levels. The atmosphere will almost always be welcoming.

• Swing Music Jam

  This jam can include Gypsy Jazz, and Swing music, or simply swing. Swing is a form of popular music developed in the United States that dominated in the 1930s and 1940s. The name swing came from the 'swing feel' where the emphasis is on the off–beat or weaker pulse in the music. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement.

Since these special Genre Jams were so successful, WAMA is now planning on possibly adding one or more new Genre Jams to the schedule. Keep watching this space to see what develops.

Nestled in a beautifully wooded area, Winolequa Park is conveniently located close to Interstate 5. Less than 2 hours drive south of Seattle and an hour north of Portland, this gem of a Pickersfest is within close driving distance for plenty of great pickers who show up every year for it. And since the festival is put on by an all-volunteer staff, the price of admission is remarkably inexpensive.

PETS: During the festival, well behaved pets are allowed throughout the park and camping area with the exception of a marked off pet free zone around and in front of the stage and the concession area. Please clean-up after your pet.

The Winlock Pickersfest is a labor of love created by a dedicated group of volunteers from the Washington Acoustic Music Association (WAMA) and co-sponsored by the Winlock Park Board.

WAMA hosts events throughout the year, so we hope you'll check the WAMA website to see the impressive display of music events offered throughout the year.

Submit your Band for our 2021 Pickersfest

Winlock Pickersfest encompasses a wide variety of Acoustic Music Genres.   If your band is interested in being considered for WAMA's fun filled festival, please submit your request along with a band bio and band photo by October 31st, 2020. Providing links to some of your bands music samples would also be helpful for WAMA in our band selection process.

Starting in 2020, WAMA will only accept band submissions through October 31st of the year preceding the next Pickersfest to be considered to perform at this festival in Winlock, WA.  WAMA will quickly finalize the band selection process and immediately notify bands whether they have or have not been selected to be offered contracts to perform that year.

Please NOTE: Our band selection process requires bands to submit a short biography and picture that may be used in advertising our festival. Band submissions lacking these requirements may not be considered to perform.

Also, if your band has a website or social media site (i.e., Facebook), please provide a link for each site you want to have shown with the band's bio.

Please use the link below to email your submission with the required attachments.

Submit Your Band Info To WAMA.

OR

Use US Mail (USPS) sent to:

WAMA
PO Box 845
Winlock, Wa. 98596

If your band is selected, and you agree to play at Pickersfest, you will be sent a contract and a W9 (tax form) to complete and return to us.