Years active 1995-2009 Genre Christian rock | Founded by Mikee Bridges | |
Locations Stevenson (1995–2004), Camas (2005–2009) | ||
P o d tomfest 01
TOMfest was an annual Christian music festival held in Camas, WA, US.
Contents
TOMfest was a Christian indie and alternative music festival founded in 1995. Showcasing established and up-and-coming Christian bands, TOMfest presented an alternative to secular music festivals and provided a venue for Christian worship. Through the years TOMfest was noted for featuring eclectic genres and diverse bands that were often underrepresented at mainstream festivals, including everything from hardcore and metal to zydeco and folk.
Notable Appearances
Previously held in Stevenson, WA, TOMfest was known for featuring underground Christian rock, indie, punk rock, hardcore, ska, metal and electronica bands. Notable appearances included performances by P.O.D., MxPx, The Beautiful Mistake, Ember, Danielson Famile, Insomniac Folklore, Pedro the Lion, Damien Jurado, Zao, Starflyer 59, Project 86, Joy Electric, Raft of Dead Monkeys, Saviour Machine, Tourniquet, Poor Old Lu, Living Sacrifice, Michael Knott, No Laughing Matter, The Blamed, Soul-Junk, Havalina Rail Co, Squad Five-O and TOMfest founder Mikee Bridges' band Tragedy Ann. Local Portland Band OverKast who later moved to the Seattle area also played in 2007.
In 1999, TOMfest also held festivals in Denver, CO(Castle Rock, CO), and Dallas, TX(Kaufman, Texas). Bands in Denver included B-N-B All-stars, Cloud 2 Ground, Echoing Green, Fold Zandura, Joy Electric, Rackets and Drapes, Squad Five-O and Viva Voce.
For a time, the name was changed to Portico Fest, but was then changed back to TOMfest.
The "TOM" in TOMfest stands for "The Other Music".
Life of the Festival
Mikee Bridges founded TOMfest. Mikee Bridges led a following of people that met for local Christian events. Mikee decided to get every one out to go camping at his parents farm out in the rural area of Portland and eventually their gathering grew too big for that farm. That's when they started renting out the fairgrounds in Stevenson, Washington. In 2003, Mikee moved to California and resulting in when other people renting at the Stevenson Washington fairgrounds.
In 2005, TOMfest shifted its date & location from Stevenson on Labor Day weekend to Camas Washington earlier in August.
In January 2010 Mikee Bridges posted a letter on the TOMFest website saying they were closing down, with a possible future move to California.