A Huge New Music Festival Is Coming to the Northwest

And it's underwritten by Blazers owner Paul Allen.

Anyone still pining for the "old MusicfestNW," rejoice—next year, the Pacific Northwest is getting a new large-scale, multi-venue music festival a la South by Southwest. The bad news? It's in Seattle.

But hey, close enough!

The Upstream Music Fest and Summit—set to hit Seattle's Pioneer Square next May 11-13—is the brainchild of Blazers and Seahawks owner Paul Allen. It'll take place over three days and involve 200 acts playing over 25 venues around CenturyLink Field, with art, film and tech components to go along with the music.

And while it might not be taking place in Portland, according to The Stranger, the festival "has a goal of booking 75% NW artists, with a strong emphasis on emerging talent," which means you should get those demos together now.

Will it succeed where other similarly formatted festivals have failed, and in a region already saturated with high-profile music fests? Who knows? But considering the man behind it owns a superyacht and just paid Evan Turner a grillion dollars to hit midrange jumpers, it should be big.

upstream

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