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 March 13, 2017

Good Times In Sisters, Oregon

The weekend after Labor Day, the little town of Sisters in Eastern Oregon flings open its doors to host the Sisters Folk Festival. It’s a three-day extravaganza of Americana roots music—folk, blues, bluegrass, and music that can’t be easily defined. This festival is so good that we’ve been two years in a row.

We won’t be going this year—and I’m already feeling a bit sad about that. One of the gifts and challenges of fulltime travel—well, of life in general—is that there are so many choices. Unfortunately, at least in my somewhat limited understanding of physics, we can only be in one place at a time.

This year, we’ve made plans to visit Glacier National Park in September. We’re thrilled about finally getting to Glacier (we tried several years ago but were shut out during the government shut-down). Still, I regret that we’ll be missing the amazing Sisters Folk Festival.

The sweet little Western-themed town of Sisters rolls out the red carpet for festival attendees. Although there are several nice campgrounds in Sisters (including our favorite, the city campground, where you can bike to all of the venues) you’re welcome to set up your rig anywhere in town during the festival. The music is fabulous, the venues are unique (open air stages, wine bars, coffee shops, big tents with hundreds of chairs, little tents with grassy lawns) and the vibe is the perfect combination of festive and mellow.

What makes it even more fun for us is meeting up with friends from our hometown of Ashland, a mere three hours away. We swung by the festival on our way home from our summer on Lopez Island and met up with friends we hadn’t seen in a year. As an extra bonus, we also finally managed to meet up with fellow fulltime travelers Lisa and Hans (Metamorphosis Road), who were staying nearby in Bend, and shared a delightful afternoon of hiking and lunch.

Should you be interested in the Sisters Folk Festival, I wrote in detail about it last year, including lots of insider tips for attending the festival (you can read about it here). We’ll be back!

Next Up: Enjoying Portland, Even In The Rain[portfolio_slideshow]

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Categories : Oregon
Tags : Sisters Folk Festival
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Comments

  1. Peta Kaplan says:
    March 13, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    Looks like a very fun festival. Yup, we can’t do it all, much as we would like to! I can definitely relate to the feeling though of missing an opportunity to do something you love, or be somewhere you really want to be.

    Am sure Glacier National Park will be amazing!!

    Peta

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 13, 2017 at 10:08 pm

      Peta, even as I struggle with my desire to not miss out on anything, I’m also keenly aware of just how fortunate we are to have so many choices in this life. I know you understand. :-) We’re very excited about spending time in Glacier!

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  2. Sooney Viani says:
    March 13, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    Nick and I are looking forward to our first SFF in Sept. Friends have been raving about it, so we scheduled it in. We’ve got a campsite, our tickets, and will do our homework to be well prepared! Your tips are good to know. Always a pleasure to read your blog and learn so much. Glad the medical part of your stories has a happy ending. Stay well!

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 13, 2017 at 10:15 pm

      Oh, how fun that you two are going to the Sisters Festival! We found it helpful to peruse the lineup ahead of time to familiarize ourselves with the musicians we didn’t already know. The festival website is a great resource. I’m excited for you! Thanks for your good thoughts, Sooney.

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  3. Sherry says:
    March 13, 2017 at 4:32 pm

    Really great pictures that definitely capture the spirit of the place and the festival. I’ll blame not feeling well for why I didn’t do as good a job with darling Apalachicola. I’ll have you take my pictures there next time so I can learn what to pay attention to. BUT trading it off for Glacier will be a choice you won’t regret. Envy oozing all over both of us.

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 13, 2017 at 10:25 pm

      I’m glad you enjoyed the photo tour, Sherry. Even without the festival, Sisters is a photogenic, delightful little town. I really didn’t do it justice because I was so immersed in the festival.
      We’re definitely looking forward to Glacier—and hoping the weather in September will cooperate! If we’re all in Florida next year we can meet up in Apalachicola again and have fun photographing together.

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  4. Metamorphosis Lisa says:
    March 14, 2017 at 5:46 am

    Looks like Sisters does festivals right!

    It was great meeting up with you two…here’s hoping our paths cross again sometime, somewhere!

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 14, 2017 at 7:28 pm

      Lisa, we were happy to finally meet up with you and Hans. Hope it won’t take us so long to cross paths again in our travels! Knowing how much you enjoy music, I think you would like the Sisters festival.

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  5. Henry says:
    March 14, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    We’ll definitely need to put SFF on our endless list of stuff to do.
    As far as Glacier NP goes……….Our plans are to be in Montana & Idaho July-ish to September-ish and we’ll be in Glacier at some point for sure. Maybe we’ll catch up with each other at some point. I’ve got some hikes in mind and I promise we won’t get lost!

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 14, 2017 at 7:33 pm

      Henry, you and Loretta would enjoy the festival—including the offerings from the local Deschutes Brewery. It would be a blast to see you in Glacier! We’ll be in the area most of September. We have lots of hikes planned, too—we promise we can get you lost. :-))

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  6. Mona Liza says:
    March 16, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    I remembered you right away when we passed by Sisters last year. I know you always attend the music festival there but Glacier will be something more. I wanted to drive there from Bend, but we did not have enough time then. But your photos here and before captured the essence of this cute little town.

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 16, 2017 at 10:24 pm

      We do love the Sisters festival, ML, but you’re right—Glacier is going to be pretty special. Next time you’re in Bend, you would enjoy a visit to Sisters. The nearby Tam McArthur trail is a gorgeous hike with amazing views.

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  7. LuAnn says:
    March 18, 2017 at 11:57 am

    I know how disappointed you must be to be missing the Sisters Festival, something we hope to do someday. But their loss is our gain as we get to see you and Eric again…yay!!! Can you tell I’m doing a happy dance?

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 19, 2017 at 10:27 am

      We’re doing a happy dance, too, LuAnn—we’re so excited about meeting up with you and Terry! Glacier will be a fabulous place for our reunion in September! oxoxo

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  8. Jodee Gravel says:
    March 18, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    Oh the colors! And the wonderful music mojo that oozes through your pics……love the youngsters. Great pic of you guys with Hans and Lisa – a meet up we are still looking forward too.

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      March 19, 2017 at 10:32 am

      Jodee, it’s a wonderfully colorful festival, in every way. We love finding music festivals in our travels, and Sisters is one of the best. It was fun to finally cross paths with Hans and Lisa. :-)

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  9. Lolalo says:
    March 28, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    This looks like such a fun festival – I just love live bluegrass! Maybe Glacier will console you….

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    • Laurel (AKA chickadee) says:
      April 3, 2017 at 8:12 am

      Loretta, Glacier is definitely worth missing the Sisters Festival. But I still wish I could be two places at once. Or more. Hope we see you guys this fall! :-)

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Eric and Laurel

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