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MANZANITA
MUSIC
FESTIVAL
THIS FIRST ANNUAL MULTI-GENRE MUSIC
FEST OFFERS FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN JULY
23 AND 24 IN DOWNTOWN MANZANITA
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Sextones will off er a live-
ly performance of West Coast
funk and soul.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jaime Leopold & the Short Stories will perform country, folk
and acid memory.
By DAN HAAG
Summer and music
festivals go hand-and-hand,
but how does one choose?
Glastonbury? Too far. Lol-
lapalooza? Too expensive.
Woodstock? Over and done.
Luckily, a new music
festival is debuting on the
North Coast in 2016. The
fi rst annual Manzanita Mu-
sic Festival — in partnership
with North County Rec-
reation District, Hoffman
Center for the Arts, and Los-
trom Company Real Estate
— brings together some of
the area’s best musical talent
and kicks off at the con-
clusion of the 26th annual
Manzanita Beach Walk and
Run on Saturday, July 23.
With multiple stages and
nearly 20 bands, it promis-
es to be one epically sonic
weekend.
S
‘MAGNETIC QUALITY’
Beth Carter-Boyer and
two Manzanita friends —
Marci Russo and Dawn Lind
— were looking to stage a
music festival. With all their
kids grown, they decided
there was no time like the
present.
“We kind of said, ‘What
are we waiting for? Let’s do
this,’” Carter-Boyer says.
“We’re all music lovers, and
we wanted to give some-
thing to the community.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jenny Don’t and the Spurs performs regularly at the San Dune
Pub in Manzanita and will provide the festiva’s roots country
sound.
Planning got underway last
summer.
While the intentions were
pure, putting together any
festival with multiple mov-
ing parts isn’t something
that just happens with a snap
of the fi ngers.
Luckily, each of the trio
has local ties and a wealth
of experience to bring to
the table. Russo owned and
operated the Big Wave Cafe
and the Garlic Company for
many years, while Lind is
a yoga instructor at NCRD
and Yoga Roots.
Carter-Boyer was able to
draw upon her experiences
after college when she went
to work for a small compa-
ny that staged a large show
combining music, fashion
and art. “It was pretty over-
whelming, and I just loved
it,” she says.
Her focus turned to the
music side after working in
a docent program for Seattle
schools that brought artists
into classrooms, something
that gave students a different
AMERICANA, BLUES, JAZZ, FUNK,
COUNTRY, INDIE, FOLK, POP AND
REGGAE ALL COLLIDE TO MAKE THIS
A BEACH FESTIVAL FOR THE AGES.
©ANTHONY PIDGEON/WWW.ANTHONYPIDGEON.COM
Kate and the Crocodiles will bring a diverse show, full of obscure old jazz and pop tunes, to the
Manzanita Music Festival. The group includes trumpeter Gavin Bondy, keyboardist Craig Bidon-
do, vocalist Kate Morrison and guests.
perspective on music.
Carter-Boyer is certain
that festival goers will see
that organizers have put an
emphasis on being an educa-
tional, family-friendly event.
“Music goes towards
emotional, physical and
mental health,” she says.
“It’s a great way for kids to
fi nd a way to express them-
selves.”
There’s lots of North
Coast expertise involved in
ensuring the festival will
be a professionally staged
event. Bill Phillips of
Nehalem — who has worked
with Portland Waterfront
Blues Festival as fi rst-tech
stage production manager
— is working in the same
capacity for this festival,
and Astoria’s Full Spectrum
Multimedia is providing
staging.
As with any music
festival, setting might be
just as vital a performer
as any of the bands. With
the backdrop of the ocean
and Neahkahnie Mountain,
Carter-Boyer feels that
musicians and attendees —
young and old — will have
no problem when it comes to
artistic expression.
“There’s just something
really special about Manza-
nita,” she says. “It’s got a
real magnetic quality to it,
and I love the way the light
diffuses in the afternoons.”
‘INCREDIBLE MUSICIANS’
And this is no one-trick
pony music festival high-
lighting a single genre.
Americana, blues, jazz,
funk, country, indie, folk,
pop and reggae all collide to