Summer in the Pacific Northwest offers no shortage of multi-day music festivals with bands and artists from across the world and in multiple genres.

But the annual “Harefest,” which just wrapped up its 13th year on July 17-19, can make a strong argument for having the most iconic songs from the highest number of music superstars over its three day run.

The familiar hits of Def Leppard, Journey, Mötley Crüe, ABBA, Bruce Springsteen, Heart, U2 and over a dozen more bands are played across multiple stages to a crowd of about 5,000 people per day.

The catch? All the performances come via tribute bands.

“It is the mother of all tribute band festivals,” says Harefest co-founder and producer Jason Fellman. “Across three days we have 24 tribute bands, multiple stages, and around 3,000 people spending the night in RVs and tents.”

Fellman also plays drums in the Journey tribute band called Stone In Love. They play shows throughout the year and were part of the very first Harefest in 2010. Back then it was just his band and a handful of others playing to a few hundred people outside the Wild Hare Saloon in Canby.

“That’s why it’s called Harefest and not H-A-I-R,” Fellman explains. “And it was just so fun we decided to do it again the next year.”

Many festival goers stay all three days, with approximately 250 RVs and hundreds of camp sites.

The camping area becomes its own makeshift park or village, complete with temporary street signs reading “Def Leppard Avenue,” “Iron Maiden Way,” “Kiss Boulevard” and other fun nods to the music being saluted at the festival.

For a lot of fans in attendance the event has become a summer tradition.

“We love music, and we see cover bands throughout the year, and this is just a cool way to have them all in one place,” explains festival goer Mark Jennings.

Like Pickathon, Oregon Jamboree and other music festivals, year after year success requires a mix of people who go every year and newcomers who hear about it from friends or family.

Bonnie and Robert Caldwell drove their RV all the way from Alberta, Canada, to attend their first Harefest.

“Given the vintage of all these bands [being paid tribute to]. The original bands like AC/DC, they’re all 75 or 82 years old and they’re having trouble,” Robert Caldwell says.

“But you come and get a tribute band, the probably plays as good as the original but they got a lot more action. They’re a lot livelier.”

Some of the tribute bands featured pay homage to groups that either no longer exist like The Cars or Fleetwood Mac, or who have passed way like Tom Petty or Ozzy Osbourne.

For many of the bands, the goal is not just to sound like the original but to capture the look, spirit, and even the stage banter of the originals. The lighting, smoke, and lasers let fans feel like they have stepped back in time to the concerts of their youth.

If that weren’t enough, there is also the “Big Hare Station,” a tent where those in attendance can get a free 80s makeover.

“You come and you can get 80s hair, tinsel, feathers, temporary tattoos, bedazzled hair, bedazzled beards, bedazzled bald heads,” says hair and makeup artist Ellie Forrest. “It’s my favorite event of the year. I love it so much.”

While other musical festivals may incorporate larger themes, ideology, or even politics into their festivities, the overriding mood at Harefest is a party celebrating music that has been the soundtrack to the lives of so many in attendance.

Producer Jason Fellman attributes the success and longevity of the festival to creating a community.

“We sort of joke it’s summer camp for adults,” he says, “Because once a year you gather thousands of people and you see the people you maybe only see once a year at Harefest. But after 13 years you start to get to know people.”

Fellman and his bandmates in Stone In Love closed this year’s Harefest on the main stage, with multiple crowd sing-alongs to Journey hits like “Wheel in the Sky,” “Lights,” “Faithfully” and “Don’t Stop Believing.”

For the band, the performance was bittersweet, though.

They’ve played every Harefest since its inception along with multiple shows throughout the year at other venues and gatherings, they plan to disband at the end of the 2025.

“We’re glad we get to do it one more time,” Fellman said in the days before the finale. “We get to go out on the biggest production year, too, which is kind of cool.”

While Stone In Love won’t be at next year’s festival, plenty of other tribute bands will. The 2026 dates have already been booked.

The lineup is to be determined but the spirit of it will remain: A long summer weekend with friends to soak up sunshine, nostalgia, music — and perhaps some big hair too.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/09/harefest-celebrates-music-nostalgia-community/