Watershed Festival is making history in 2016. Instead of one weekend of country fun this summer, there will be two: July 29-31 and Aug. 5-7.
I attended weekend one and soon after getting home from the long weekend, social media blew up with rage about the way the Gorge campgrounds were left. There was an insane amount of garbage and camping gear scattered everywhere.
The event is three days at the famous Washington Gorge Amphitheater, which looks over the Colombia River. The concert goers, also known as ‘Shedders’, show up to camp at the venue the Thursday before the concert and leave the following Monday. There are several types of camping for shedders: standard, premier, terrace, big rig, family, ADA camping and Gorge Oasis VIP camping.
I arrived Thursday and had standard camping. Staff members handed shedders garbage bags as they drove in. That night, I went on a search for garbage cans to drag back to my site, which were almost impossible to find, but I was in luck. I pulled one all the way to my site and picked up my site spotless.
The next day, the grounds staff at the Gorge managed to find the can at my site and changed the bag out. But, that was the last time any of the trash cans around the campgrounds were changed, including mine.
Not only did garbage cans overfill because of neglect, but the Gorge was hit by a HUGE windstorm on Saturday evening, which postponed the headlining show and whipped garbage throughout the air.
On Monday, my group was one of the last to leave the standard campgrounds. As we looked around, we were disgusted by all the trash left behind, but knew it wasn’t entirely the shedders’ fault.
People expressed their feelings about the circulating picture. Some people complained about the price of tickets and that a clean-up crew is affordable.
and…
Others complained about the respect for camping.
In my opinion, the Gorge should do what Coachella Music Festival does. At Coachella, campers can trade a bag of garbage for ice or food. Now, that’s motivation.
Regardless of the excuses and opinions, be respectful. If you pack it in, then you pack it out.
– Respect My Region!
