Great festival
by Erin on 8/29/23THING is a great of music and local vendors. I look forward to it every year.
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THING is a great of music and local vendors. I look forward to it every year.
The festival itself was wonderful. Ticketmaster, on the other hand, was just the worst. My tickets never arrived even though they claimed to have sent them in the mail a month ago. Their customer service never responded to my help requests. Luckily the festival staff were understanding - apparently I wasn’t the only one that Ticketmaster screwed over.
Best music festival ever! So well run, amazing artists, please please please come back next year!
If you’re going to pay good money for a concert, be respectful of the musicians and your fellow concert goers by not screaming a conversation with your friends the entire evening. If you don’t want to see it, just leave.
It was super fun and provided lots of information with paper maps. Especially since it’s kind of a dead zone for your phone. Had lots of super fun activities and vendors come. Security was good but bag checking was annoying. Not because of the bag check itself but if you wanted to walk around, you would need to check your bag every few minutes. Only other compliment is crowd control in the front. I was waiting for fleet foxes in the third row and this rude group of boys all 6ft+ were pushing their way through the crowd directly in front. Other group members of there’s just shoved through and we’re making everyone around uncomfortable. I was rib cage to rib cage with this older man who was so rudely pushing. I left 5 minutes into their set and so did others surrounding. There was no stage visibility because of their height and was so claustrophobic. I told and this really kind worker went to do crowd control at the front. Other than that, very enjoyable!! Concert etiquette is just a thing that’s been lost
Great venue, performances, and overall experience. This is my second time attending The Thing and I plan on coming back next year. I purchased the VIP package for Friday and I enjoyed this experience just as much as GA. The ticket is a bit more, but the amenities make up for the price of the package--especially the private bathrooms and reserved parking space. So amazed to have a more intimate experience with the performers at The Thing. The atmosphere was relaxed and peaceful. I hope the festival doesn't eventually turn into Coachella. It's great just as it currently is.
title says its all, 3 days of good music, interesting people. Stages and sound were great
Sunday THING was not a great thing. We were disappointed. Vendors were closing, food was sold out, the THING sponsored booth ran out of lanterns, KEXP (who my son really wanted to visit with) wasn’t even there. For $130 a ticket nearly $300 total our THING was a bust. Music was so so. Thank goodness for Jose G. we’ve gone both years but I think we’re done. We were hoping for better then we got.
Thing 2022 was an overall positive experience! The acts were well-curated and offered something for almost everybody. The food vendors and other merchants were also a good fit for the crowd. Having a free shuttle service was a brilliant idea and seemed to be well-used. I have a couple suggestions on things to improve. Have more staff at the beer stands - it should not take 45 minutes to buy a beer! Also, provide the 21+ wristbands at the entry to the festival, not at the end of the drink line where the process of checking ID slows down the entire process. Please install temporary WiFi service! With so many people there the data was overwhelmed. Looking forward to next year!
Incredibly well-run festival in a beautiful setting, full of friendly, happy people of all ages, showcasing an array of great bands. And a wicked cool interactive art exhibit. I loved it. Can’t wait till next year.
Awesome weekend! Worth the three year wait. I hope to return next year!
Like a baby Sasquatch but smaller and mellower crowd. Luv the lineup and the Illuminarium. Super well managed and comfortable. Only wish is for a few more food options and maybe some more outdoor art, plenty of space for it.
I saw some amazing bands and ate some good food. It was wonderful to have such a youthful crowd in Port Townsend, and I appreciated the bands being so diverse musically and racially. Keep it up! Ticket prices were high, and probably prevented many Peninsula locals from attending. Many locals volunteered to get tickets, it would be nice to make this more affordable for more people.
Disappointing… How can they call it an art and music festival if there are more food and alcohol tents than Art booths? Not to mention they made parking nearly impossible and after charging WAY too much for tickets ($160 per day), then they charged $35 for parking per day but if you wanted to leave and come back you had to pay full price again! I didn’t even bother going back. Absolutely ridiculous. I wish I could get a refund.
We went on Friday, only liked one band. We didn’t like the rest of the musicians, they were very average. Need to have move people selling alcohol, the lines were super long The food was good!
We saw Wet Leg, our favorite. But really enjoyed Rachel Bell at Wheeler, and the band of Arab men who were rock in’! Great entertainment. Easy to move from venue to venue. The food was fabulous and varied.
Great camp setup with a great array of bands and tons of fun to be had with good people and friendly staff
So much great music, it's impossible to pick favorites, but special mention goes to new-to-me bands Sparks and Nation of Language. Research the lineup for 2022 and check them all out. I loved that performances at all the stages didn't overlap, so it was possible to walk between them to catch the next act. You will get in a lot of steps every day going from one end of Fort Worden to the other. The only small issue with the venue is that the area between the two main stages is open to the public, so you can't bring alcohol from one main stage to the other one, and there was a bag check gate whenever you crossed into a main stage area. It's a lot to juggle when you are carrying a backpack that needs to be unzipped and checked for contraband, and you're trying to keep from dropping the plate of food you just bought. I can't wait for THING 2023!
We love this festival! Great place, good people, good music. Compared to 2019, there were less artists, but that wasn't really bad, in that they didn't overlap. That is nice since then we didn't have to miss anyone. But, there seemed to be much less "other stuff" going on. Podcasts, comedy, activities, etc. So, if you didn't want to watch one band, there was nothing else going on. As well, with alcohol needing to be drank in each stage area and only one band playing at a time, there should be 2 drink tents at each stage. I'm sure the vendor lost a lot of money on folks not drinking as they didn't want to wait so long in line. Also, start and end Sunday earlier.... or just do Sat/Sun. Most of us couldn't take both Fri and Mon off to see all the artists. Overall super fun and great music!
We only went on Friday, but had a super easy time parking and walking over to the venue. It seemed well-attended but the grounds are spacious with plenty of room to roam around Fort Worden. Very well curated mix of musical acts (we were there Friday for Sparks mostly but loved other sets), and fun “Last Meal” podcast interview. Two minor issues: We had close to zero cell reception at the grounds. This was a benefit sometimes so I could put my phone away and enjoy the festival but is something to know in case you need connection for whatever reason. The bluff near Parade Grounds had a good signal. Cell/web connection was an issue for some vendors, too-based on a personal experience. One last item: more picnic tables would be nice. Sitting on the grass was just fine but it’s easier to eat at a table. I’d go again for sure, if there are acts I want to see!