FarmJam Festival was back for its third year and this only proves that the success of this Festival was not just beginner’s luck. Greg and Zara Knight really have done a great job with the music and logistics of their FarmJam Festival 2022 Music Festival.
View Todd’s Photo Gallery of FarmJam 2022
Read Todd’s Music Review of FarmJam 2022
Everything from a Fantastic volunteer staff who are constantly helping festers, cleaning, checking people in at the main gate or selling merchandise for the festival and the artists to helpful Security, Sound, and Stage crew that keep everything moving smoothly. A good variety of food vendors with prices that are actually reasonable were also present. I am told that there will be even more food vendors next year and as we can all agree, More is More!!
Every year so far has had a strong lineup of PNW bands from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho along with outstanding National Acts. I have opinions on Festivals as I attend many of them but I am also working during that time and experience them differently than a regular attendee. So this year I talked to many festival goers and asked if it was their first year or have they returned year after year. About half of the festers I talked to was new and the others I talked to were returning and as I knew or recognized them this was obvious. This may lead you to believe that half of last year festers didn’t return for some reason but you would be wrong due to the huge growth of the festival in general, their numbers were just added to. There were many more campers, both RV and tents, and a noticeable increase in Day parkers. (Yes you can get a day pass)
FarmJam lives about 1 mile outside of Colville WA. (70 Miles North of Spokane) This was a huge plus for many Festers as services were just minutes away. Grocery, Hardware, Automotive, and Restaurants are close and you can always fulfill all the forgotten items that we all have when we go camping. You could actually go to the Super Walmart and totally equip a campsite from scratch. I like that the music doesn’t begin until 2 pm, giving plenty of time for campers to mingle and get to know their neighbors. No less than 5 camping groups had full-blown pools. Not kiddie pools mind you, full pools that a grown man could get into and cool off. Now that is a neighbor you want to get to know. As I mentioned earlier, I knew many of the festers from last year. This free time during the day was a great time to walk through the site and talk to the campers that haven’t gone into town to have breakfast or lunch at Mavericks. It is hard to find a camper that hadn’t spent a few dollars on their pretty great breakfast selections. I used my one run into town to get some more Ice for my cooler. I would love it if the festival would sell or provide a vendor to provide Ice on site. This is my request for every festival that offers camping, not just FarmJam.
I know a great many of you country music lovers in Washington State have been to Watershed. Many of the people I talked to have been to the Gorge many times, as have I, but we are talking apples and oranges here. The Gorge Amphitheater Seats 20,000 of your closest friends and if you are camping, you are quite a distance from your belongings. It is not very convenient to quickly run back to your campsite for something you have forgotten. FarmJam is on a 100-acre hay field and as of this year, it looked like 1/3 or so was being used. There is a lot of room to increase the size of the ticketed venue and to expand camping and day parking. Even at the farthest corner of the field, I was able to get to the security station at the venue in less than 5 mins. There are plenty of Honeybuckets in the venue and around the camping areas and they were kept very clean something the Gorge struggles with even to this day.
Farmjam has a heart as well. As in past years, they have partnered with the nonprofit Gr8ter Veterans Spokane to help Veterans in Eastern Washington. And this year is also partnering with the Colville Valley Animal Sanctuary (CVAS), which has served the animals and communities of Northeast Washington for 20 years.
Colville Valley Animal Sanctuary strives to improve the quality of life for both pets and people by providing humane society services. This includes shelter and rescue for pets in need, facilitating spay/neuter, and providing pet adoption services and affordable routine pet care such as vaccinations and microchipping.
It’s about time to do what about 2000 people did this year. They have started a new Labor Day tradition and its name is FarmJam Festival.
Stay tuned for my review of the Music at FarmJam Festival 2022 Musical Artists. Who will be my biggest surprise this year?
View Todd’s Photo Gallery of FarmJam 2022
Read Todd’s Music Review of FarmJam 2022
TODD HOBERT
https://www.toddhobert.com/
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