The No Depression Festival, which has graced Marymoor Park with amazing roots and Americana music for the past two summers, has been cancelled this year for financial reasons.
No Depression publisher Kyla Fairchild broke the news to No Depression readers online Tuesday afternoon. She wrote:
The bad news is that we won’t be presenting a No Depression Festival in 2011. After a good bit of consideration, we realized it just isn’t financially feasible for us to continue with the festival the way we have the past two years. We had a really great time presenting ND Fests in 2009 and 2010 – both with killer lineups and incredible audiences. But, it isn’t realistic for us to continue the festival in the same manner. While we hope we’ll be able to plan something similar (or perhaps even better) in the future, this year we’ve decided to forego the No Depression Festival.
Instead (and here comes the good news), we’ll be teaming up with our friends at KEXP to present a special ND/KEXP free show at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater on Aug. 26, 2011, as part of Concerts at the Mural series. The lineup and other details will be announced as we solidify them. But, we ask that you save the date for what is sure to be a memorable moment in live music this summer.
It’s unfortunate that No Depression Fest won’t be happening this year but it’s exciting to see the publication teaming up with KEXP. The festival was a bright spot on my summer a few years ago because not only did it introduce me to several great artists I would have otherwise overlooked, it was also a great festival experience. The setting at Marymoor Park was perfect, the festival grounds were spacious and the music was really, really good. Past No Depression Festival performers include Iron & Wine, The Swell Season, Patterson Hood, the Cave Singers, Lucinda Williams and other notable roots-y Americana artists. It’ll be interesting to see what the partnership with KEXP produces.
