Over the course of two days, July 18 and 19, 2025, the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, Oregon hosted a festival that brought an incredible lineup of independent country music artists and tens of thousands of fans to the high desert of Central Oregon.
In the days leading up to Fairwell Festival, reports of nearby wildfires raised concerns of poor air quality. But the winds were in favor and the skies were clear throughout the weekend, with the exception of some clouds rolling in Friday evening, giving some relief from the heat and providing a spectacular sunset during Tyler Childers’ closing set.
Not only was the quality of the air favorable, the quality of the Fairwell Festival lineup was one for the ages. Anchored by Childers’ headlining set on Friday and Sturgill Simpson closing things out on Saturday, the roster was overflowing with talent. There were legends such as Tanya Tucker, Dwight Yoakum, Robert Earl Keen, and Marty Stuart. Some of today’s hardest-working, most ass-kicking artists peppered the schedule, including Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin, and Sierra Ferrell. More up-and-coming talent was everywhere. Wyatt Flores, Colby Acuff, Willow Avalon — you could throw darts at the schedule to plan your day and rest assured you’d be satisfied with the music you experienced. In fact, that would have been easier than trying to decide between artists who were appearing at the same time on different stages. Walk away from a Cody Jinks set to see what Willow Avalon is all about? Rock out with Joe Wetzel or experience the deep talent of Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives? Some decisions were tough, but in this case, there were no wrong answers.
In its third year, Fairwell Festival was pared down from three days to two, with three stages operating all afternoon and evening. Sets were relatively short, the early artists performing for 45 minutes, then hour-long sets in the middle of the schedule. Childer’s Friday set with an hour and a half, while the longest set of the weekend was reserved for Saturday’s festival-closing onslaught from Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson.
Temperatures hovered around 90 degrees on Friday afternoon, and attendees sought out shade tents and cooling fans, and water from the available hydration stations. Saturday was cooler, but still plenty warm as the day progressed. The festival did what they could, handing out boxed water to fans toward the front of the crowd.
There are no freeway systems running through Central Oregon to easily disperse the thousands of cars and trucks exiting the fairgrounds, and traffic was a problem, even with many attendees making a dash for the exits before the final notes were played. Even if everything goes smoothly, the area’s two-lane roads can only handle so much. There were shuttles running to off-site parking areas, and people reported them running consistently and cruising past the traffic exiting the fairgrounds.
There was camping available, as well as ice and shower trailers. The flat, grassy camping area was a short walk to the main festival gate, so there were no traffic concerns. Noise was another story, with beer pong tournaments, roping competitions, and even wrestling matches occurring late into the night. Large pole parking lot lights were strewn about the grounds, and helped folks find their way back to camp after the shows, but for some reason were never turned off. Maybe it was out of safety concerns, but the effect was like living in northern Alaska where the sun never sets.
Fairwell Festival may have a few logistical issues to work out, as most festivals do. And a giant C3 Presents/Live Nation event in an area where many people would prefer a less corporate, more independent experience may not seem ideal to local residents. But if the organizers keep things running smoothly and continue to curate amazing lineups like this year’s, Fairwell Festival could remain one of the hottest country music festivals in the West, or anywhere. Fans were amazed by how many great sets of music they experienced.
