Story by Stephanie Hinson

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Crowds of people gathered around the University of Oregon campus from noon to midnight on Saturday afternoon for the annual Willamette Valley Music Festival (WVMF.) Various scents of faire food filled the air as students and community members roamed around campus and attended the ASUO Street Faire that occurred the same day. The festival has been going on for over 40 years and continues to bring the community together through the art of music.

Admission to the festival was free for anyone attending, as it was organized by the University of Oregon’s Cultural Forum and funded partly by students’ incidental fees.  Fifteen different bands, including the highly anticipated 3LAU, played at three locations on campus: the Buzz Pub Stage, the Erb Memorial Union (EMU) Amphitheater and University Street.

This year’s festival coordinators were Abigaelle Mulligan and Courtney Campbell. The festival, previously called the Willamette Valley Music Folk Festival, has evolved over the years, changing from a folk music festival into a more modern music festival. Mulligan and Campbell worked hard to ensure that this year’s event remained current and family-friendly.

“It’s transformed over the years, it’s obviously been around here for a really long time and it’s gone from a folk festival to kind of like a jam-band festival,” says co-coordinator Abigaelle Mulligan. “It’s really a community building event.”

Mulligan and Campbell began brainstorming what types of bands they wanted to present to the community back in summer 2012. They contacted bands they felt had a large student presence and were “local and known within the community,” in order to appeal to both students and community members. During the fall, students were able to give input on what bands they hoped to see on their campus. “From that we kind of were able to tailor to if not the exact bands students wanted, bands that were in that same genre,” says Mulligan.

“This year we went a different route and wanted to really engage students more, so our target audience was students and so we just tried encompassing the ideals of previous festivals,” Mulligan says. “We wanted an eclectic group of performers and artists that we knew that students and community members would both enjoy.” 

Various DJs who partnered with the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour were part of a competition on University Street later in the evening, drawing in an excited crowd. “The DJ competition is definitely a huge draw for engaging students,” says Mulligan.

The Great Hiatum’s eclectic sound and the voice of lead singer, Melissa Randal, echoed through the EMU Amphitheater as people danced in front of the stage early in the afternoon. Festival attendees sat in the amphitheater and watched with friends, while others mingled and walked around the amphitheater area.  

“One of our friends told us about the festival. I really like these guys,” festival attendee Stephanie Imah says about The Great Hiatum, Melissa Randal’s band, as she sits and watches with her friend outside the amphitheater.

Due to the size of the festival and the various locations in which the bands played, volunteers could be found all over campus.

“My friend Courtney is actually one of the coordinators so she kind of told me about what was happening and that they needed volunteers,” says volunteer Kristin Bryson. “I really like it. I know a lot of the bands that are playing so that helps and I really think it’s a great event.” 

The Willamette Valley Music Festival is constantly evolving as the coordinators continue to seek out local and unique talent. With plans for next year’s festival already in the works, the Eugene community can expect a dynamic and entertaining festival for years to come.