PT artists and venues to kick off THING Fest

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In the days leading to the inaugural THING music festival at Fort Worden this weekend, Port Townsend artists, musicians and venues will participate in a rocking pre-game party stretching across the city: Soundcheck.

Soundcheck takes place on Aug. 22 and 23. It features some of Port Townsend musicians playing shows in over a dozen local venues including bars, breweries, an open air public stage, a winery and a coffee shop.

Phosphene, 1034 Water St., is to serve as a hub for Soundcheck events with a host of performances and interactive activities Thursday evening and throughout the day Friday.

The pre-festival includes a number of other non-music events aimed at an out-of-town crowd, such as boat tours from the Northwest Maritime Center, a linocut workshop at the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum, and goat yoga sessions at Dragonfly Farm.

“We really had two main goals here with the festival,” said Gage Pacifera, who is helping organize the event. “Number one is to really celebrate our local artists and performers and have a festival that is really our own. Number two is to give THING festival-goers an introduction to Port Townsend and give them fun things to do before.”

The pre-festival was intentionally set up to not provide any competition with THING, Pacifera said.

“The goal here is to have a celebration before the big weekend celebration and do what we can to support their efforts.”

There are great artists in Port Townsend who will participate in the pre-festival, Pacifera said. “It is great to give them the opportunity to have this spotlight and really show what they can do.”

Nate Malmgren, another organizer, said this is a perfect opportunity for Port Townsend to shine.

“There is so much local talent that gets overlooked because Port Townsend seems like an older retirement community. But there is a vibrant arts culture and even up and coming youth culture that I think will attract more people and families to Jefferson County in the future.”

Dominic Svornich, owner of Cellar Door and festival steering committee member, said Port Townsend venues are looking forward to collaborating together for the pre-festival.

“Cellar Door is so excited to participate in the inaugural Soundcheck event this year, and to collaborate with all the other amazing venues and performers that make Port Townsend so special. This truly is a unique community, with more talent than any other town of its size, and this event will be a great new way to showcase those artists.”

There will be plenty of opportunities for bar hopping during the pre-festival, Paficera said.

“In my opinion there is a disproportionate amount of great venues here for the size of the town.”

Getting the ball running

“I was very excited to hear that a high-profile music and arts festival was being started here, and I wondered if there was something we could do to show off our own local music and arts scene.”

Everybody Pacifera talked with loved the idea of throwing a locally-focused pre-THING festival, and those conversations eventually led to assembling a crew of volunteers that created “Soundcheck,” which is producing the pre-festival.

“We are hoping we will draw some people to town a couple of days early to come here and enjoy Port Townsend and get a good impression and promote the town,” Pacifera said.

For a full schedule of events, visit ptsoundcheck.com.