Departure Festival goes wild in the wilderness | Photo Gallery

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There were flowers in their hair, fire dancing duos, and light shows like you wouldn’t believe last weekend at Departure Fest NW.

From Friday, Aug. 5 through Sunday, Aug. 7, attendees camped out in the natural wonder surrounding the Lake Leland Amphitheater in Quilcene to enjoy the show all weekend long. The spectacle aimed to unite storytelling, artisans, and live music within a safe outlet, which they did successfully, but it was clear that the music was what brought out the crowds.

There were singer songwriters aplenty to soothe the summer sun with acts like Raye Zaragoza and Dustin Thomas, but as the sun went down the heat of the grooves would grow.

Friday night was full of hits like Torin Frost & Patterns of Saturn who brought the funk before Tim Snider & Wolfgang Timber took to the stage with Snider’s wailing electric violin leading the way.

The climax came on Saturday under the black-light wonders of Wookiefoot, who wowed the crowd with the antics of their back-up dancers, alien-esque front man, and bagpipe behemoth.

The event was hosted by local band The Shift, who also played Saturday night and brought their own mix of dancers, costumes, and even electric-light jellyfish puppets swimming through the crowd.

While no one can deny it was a good time, it also had a larger purpose by benefiting the Chemakum Longhouse Project, which aims to help buy land and fund the building of traditional longhouses for the indigenous people of Jefferson County.

Between the evening acts, videos about the longhouse project as well as soil degradation and the racism of red-lining were projected next to the stage to educate the audience while crews switched out instruments.