Member Profile: Turning Tides Music Festival

As Springfield’s arts community continues to grow, the inaugural Turning Tides Music Festival provides an exciting opportunity for audiences to enjoy live folk and acoustic music, food vendors, and more. The festival is on Saturday, September 19 from 10:00am to 9:00pm at Island Park. The Springfield Chamber recently spoke to Steve Remington from Turning Tides Music Foundation to learn more about the event.

Tell us a little about Turning Tides Music Festival
Who doesn’t remember the Eugene Celebration or the Willamette Valley Folk Festival? Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask when are we going to start a new community event like those, and wouldn’t Springfield’s coming-of-age be perfect to include a world-class music festival in the beautiful Island Park?

The inaugural Turning Tides Music Festival is trying to answer that call with a brand new community celebration of folk and acoustic music set along the Willamette River. Featuring eight main stage musical performers, vendors, song groups, food, and dance, this single-day event is expected to draw 500-700 people to what we hope to be a legacy event for the Springfield community.

This multicultural, participatory event will feature live music from the 2026 recipient of International Folk Music’s Artist of the Year, Carsie Blanton, and her band, along with the 2025 recipient of International Folk Music’s Artist of the Year, Crys Matthews. The community-building festival will also include performances by Seffarine, Alice DiMicele & Andy Casad, Llorona, The Burning Hell, Larry Pattis and Bhakti Heart. The pricing is reasonable for a single-day festival that presents more than eight acts, and there are many opportunities to volunteer and get a free wristband to the festival.

How did it get started?
The work of the presenting organization – Turning Tides Music Foundation – has been going on for nearly 40 years, although it only became a not-for-profit in November 2025. Founding members Mike Meyer and Becca Perry have been producing house concerts and venue shows in the Willamette Valley for decades. Most recently, Mike and Becca have produced up to 60 shows a year in venues such as Unity of the Valley, Tsunami Books, and both of their homes in Eugene.

In early 2026, after receiving 501(c)(3) non-profit status from the IRS, the board began building out our business structure and recruiting volunteers and board members. We now have seven seasoned board members, more than half of whom are also musicians and at least one who can dance. Collectively, they have served in executive roles at da Vinci Days, Eugene Celebration, Oregon Truffle Festival, Mt. Pisgah Arboretum’s Wildflower and Music Festival, MPA’s Mushroom Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, Earth Day Celebration, and Oakridge Concerts in the Park (Rock the Park).

What makes you different?
Our primary purpose is to connect artists with audiences to provide a healing, healthy atmosphere that honors and nourishes both. We typically offer artists as much as 100% of the door at our house concerts and strive to make every appearance both emotionally and financially profitable for the artist, while also keeping tickets affordable. Many of our house concerts end up as potlucks, building a community of concert goers who often contribute much more than the standard ticket price so that artists can get on with the business of touring and performing.

We don’t compete with other promoters; if another venue or presenter can offer an artist more money, or a better experience, we step aside. There are simply too many good performers available that can benefit from our significant patron list and who trust our curation of old and new artists.

While you may not know some artists we bring to the Willamette Valley, this is more a result of the fragmented media that artists encounter, as well as the nature of the corporatization and merging of local, regional, and national presenters. Many artists we bring are well-known in places such as Boston, Austin, or LA, but lack the name recognition in smaller west coast markets like Oregon.

Join our email list and, when you see an artist that looks promising, click on the links to check them out. Or, go to one of the music streaming services (Apple Music, if you want the artists to actually earn money from your listen). You’ll be surprised at the quality of the artists we have curated on your and their behalf.

Anything else you’d like to share?
Creating a new legacy community event requires passion, volunteers, and the buy-in of Willamette Valley businesses, public agencies, and partner organizations. We encourage you to join us as a sponsor or volunteer. In the meantime, go online and and see what upcoming shows might interest you. We’ve probably got at least four to five each month to choose from!